PennDOT chief tours flood-ravaged Berks community

Jul. 11—PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll looked upstream Tuesday toward a commercial building perched precariously over the channel of Antietam Creek in Lower Alsace Township.

The foundation of the building was washed away along with a large section of creek bank during Sunday's flash flood. The building housed an auto detailing business next to Bixler's Lodge, a landmark tavern, but it has been condemned by township officials and must be demolished, officials said.

The storm damage complicates the PennDOT two-year project to replace the Carsonia Road bridge that carried Carsonia Avenue, Friedensburg Road and other intersecting streets. Detours have been in effect for about a month.

The detailing shop sits just above the Friedensburg Road crossing, currently a line on a map, since the old structure was removed by the PennDOT contractor in the initial phase of the project.

PennDOT is assessing the extent of restoration work required before the contractor for the $5.1 million bridge project can continue.

"We have some remedial work that we have to do to restore the area for our new structure," Carroll said.

Pennsylvania's top transportation official and PennDOT colleagues toured the project area with state Sen. Judy Schwank, a day after Gov. Josh Shapiro and his emergency management director toured the devastation in the same Stony Creek Mills neighborhood, including flooded Antietam High School.

Carroll said his visit was to show PennDOT's commitment to be a solid partner to the township as well as Schwank and state Rep. Mark Rozzi, who represent the area.

A PennDOT contractor was working to remove debris from the creek to return the flow to its normal channel. Carroll said the immediately priority was to reopen Exeter Road, which parallels the creek but is choked by debris.

The Antietam was a babbling brook late Tuesday morning compared with the raging creek that Schwank saw Monday when she accompanied the governor the day after the deluge.

An astonishing amount of rainfall Sunday — 9.16 inches was recorded in the nearby village of Five Points — overwhelmed the Antietam, as it did small streams in many similarly inundated communities in Berks.

Antietam High School, which sits at a significantly lower elevation from the PennDOT project, sustained flooding over 90% of the building.

Schwank said she's facilitating help one step at a time.

"I think we have the right people at the table," she said. "It's just a lot of pieces have to be put in place."

Plans were being formulated for a meeting this week between state Education Secretary Khalid Mumin and Antietam School District officials, including Superintendent Dr. Heidi A. Rochlin. Short- and long-term potential solutions need to be discussed regarding how to educate hundreds of students in grades 7 through 12, the lawmakers said.

Grateful for help

On Monday a neighborhood woman waved to Shapiro and thanked him as he toured the area.

On Tuesday that woman, Linda Sychterz, described what it's been like the last few days.

She and her husband, Jeff, often get water in their basement, but nothing like what they saw Sunday. The water filled their basement, ruining their water heater, washing machines, refrigerators and Jeff's power tools for his hardwood restoration business.

The ruined items were piled in their backyard. The couple were left with no hot water.

Their daughter, Carly Woytke, who lives around the corner, was helping to clean the house. A neighboring family lent them a generator from a beach house.

The generosity was evident wherever people went in the Antietam Valley community.

While Woytke was mopping her parents' porch, Casey Coates and her crew of volunteers arrived with donated supplies including paper and terry cloth towels, disinfectant and bottled water.

Coates, a former leader of the Antietam parent-teacher organization, said she put out the word through social media that people in the community need help.

"This is my home and my community, and they need help," she said, adding that people can't wait for two months for government help to crystallize when they need items now.

With all of the road closures, what would normally be a two-minute ride to reach the isolated Exeter Road homes instead took 20 minutes.

"It's just devastating," Coates said. "I know we're not the only community that was affected. We're just doing our part."

They were making deliveries to hard-hit Valley View Park, a mobile home community that sits on low ground near Antietam Valley Recreation Center.

The Salvation Army of Boyertown's disaster services canteen truck was deployed to the area of the mobile home park. Volunteers served hot dogs and drinks.

Park residents Patricia Blankenbiller and Janelle Lehman were helping to distribute hot dogs to residents cleaning up debris.

Blankenbiller said many of the residents have a look of devastation. Some lost their vehicles, even pets.

"You can just see the look on their faces," she said.

Some had their homes dislodged from their supports.

Valley View resident Joe Blanchard, who needs a heart transplant, watched from the porch as the torrent picked up his full-size pickup truck and deposited it against a neighbor's trailer.

He didn't get water in his living quarters, but the undercarriage and skirt were destroyed.

"What bothers me is I pay a lot of money for insurance, but it doesn't cover my loss because I don't have flood insurance," he said.