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Sen. Casey Tours Crumbling Creek Wall in Wilkes-Barre, Promises Funding

WILKES-BARRE — Wilkes-Barre city leaders along with a U.S. senator met Monday, trying to figure out how to get money to fix up a collapsed section of a wa...

WILKES-BARRE -- Wilkes-Barre city leaders along with a U.S. senator met Monday, trying to figure out how to get money to fix up a collapsed section of a wall along Solomon Creek.

Friday night, a portion of the wall fell into the water, and the mayor declared a state of emergency.

Neighbors told elected leaders they're worried more of the flood wall at Solomon Creek could collapse if it's not fixed soon.

U.S. Senator Bob Casey toured the damage at Solomon Creek with the Wilkes-Barre police chief, fire chief, and mayor, among others, where a 40-foot section of stones fell into the water over the weekend.

“It's a major piece of damage done so we have to see it up close,” Sen. Casey said.

“The wall's in the creek. It's an urgent need now,” added Mayor Tony George.

“I thought it was an accident on the bridge or something. I come out the door and I see there's a big hole in the wall there,” said David Blaine, who wondered why it took the wall to collapse in the creek for a federal official to step in. He lives across the street from the part that fell into the creek.

“The wall's been leaning that way for a long, long time. I'm just surprised it stayed up that long,” he said.

But finding the money to fix the flood wall is a challenge. It's been in disrepair for years and would cost about $15 million to fix the entire stretch.

"It's labor intensive, the professional work behind the design it, it's the materials involved,” said Wilkes-Barre Administrator Ted Wampole.

“We've been working on this before I've been sworn in,” added Mayor George.

“The funding never comes fast enough, there's no question about that,” said Sen. Casey.

“I think they should do something, you know, before it gets worse. I'm just afraid someone's going to get hurt there," said Blaine.

But now, Sen. Casey plans to reach out directly to the director of FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, showing he's serious about rebuilding the flooding wall quickly.

Still, no one could say when the wall could be built.

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