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Rebuilding in Plainsville

Many people spent the last six months cleaning up properties and rebuilding after the flood of 2011. It is encouraging to see how far flood victims have come in...
luz plainsville rebuild

Many people spent the last six months cleaning up properties and rebuilding after the flood of 2011.

It is encouraging to see how far flood victims have come in their recovery.

Piles of trash still line the streets of a section of Plains Township known as Plainsville. The Susquehanna River decimated the area, and while some homes have been completely redone, others still look the same as the day the waters receded.

Ken Spittel looks for nails outside his home here in Plainsville after yet another day of remodeling. He has spent the last six months picking up the pieces, starting over in a home he has lived in for the last 50 years.

"There are some people who are still doing some work on their houses and there are some that I don't even know if they are coming back or not," Spittel said.

Newswatch 16 stopped by Andy Chopka's home in Plainsville just days after the flood and found the entire family ripping out the cabinets, cleaning off the dishes and salvaging whatever they could.

"It come out nice. I'll have to give my son-in-law some credit because he did a nice job," Chopka said. "We did all the cleaning.  That was the hard part. getting the mud outta here."

Chopka said it took about five months to get all the repairs complete on his house and now he's worrying about what is happening across the street, where it appears people left and aren't coming back.

"It looks like hell over there. It needs to be cleaned up. It's time the township comes around and starts doing something," Chopka added.

Township officials said they are waiting until FEMA decides what properties will be bought out before they can come in with bulldozers and clear away any houses that people will not be returning to.

There is no word when that could happen.

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