TAMAQUA -- The Little Schuylkill River got transformed into a wild rapid in Tamaqua after heavy downpours dumped buckets of water on the borough Tuesday evening.
“It was bad, really bad. It was just like coming down in sheets,” said Carla Theisen.
Roads were quickly turned into rivers and lakes.
While some drivers risked plowing into the mess, others said they wouldn't even dare walking through it.
“It's terrible. You can't walk. You can't even walk across the street, you're going get your feet soaked.”
“Yeah, it's bad. It's bad. I went to Turkey Hill and I was going to walk that way and I turned around and walked that way. It's bad,” said Tyler Ansbach.
As the streets flooded out, so did basements of homes and businesses.
Fire crews were at several locations on Broad and Rowe Streets, helping to pump water out.
Even the Citizens Fire Company House on Rowe Street fell victim to the rain.
“The back area was all flooded, all the way down to the fire station,” said Theisen. “It was just, I've never seen this in as many years as I've been here, and I've been living here six years in this apartment complex.”
The Tamaqua Fire Chief says another problem compounding the issue was the Wabash Creek that runs under parts of the borough.
Water from the creek rose up through the streets adding to the flooding brought on by the rain.
Richard Campbell's home sits on top of Wabash Creek and his basement got about eight inches of water.
“We've had rain, heavy rains, ever since the last time they cleaned the Wabash. We never had a problem. This time it came right up,” said Campbell.
