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Keeping Wary Eye on Creek in Pine Grove

PINE GROVE, Pa. — A day after heavy rainfall caused flooding in Pine Grove, the people who live in the community are still remembering the chaos. Firefigh...

PINE GROVE, Pa. -- A day after heavy rainfall caused flooding in Pine Grove, the people who live in the community are still remembering the chaos.

Firefighters had to rescue Betty Doran from her home.

"We got out and we picked up about five other people up the road here," Doran recalled.

Flooding is becoming all too familiar for the people of Pine Grove. This is the second time their homes and businesses have flooded this summer.

In 2011, more than 200 homes and businesses were damaged by rain from Tropical Storm Lee.

"It's becoming a regular event that we're getting used to, yes," Thomas Hlavaty said.

All of the flooding in Pine Grove is caused by the Swatara Creek. Hlavaty owns a business near it and says he has a solution for the problem.

"What I want to see happen is underneath the bridge, clear out the silt and the soil to the original depths that it was originally built at," Hlavaty said. "Just like the roads need to be replaced every couple years, you also need to clean out underneath these bridges every couple years."

Last month, Pine Grove received grant money from the state to help with its flooding problem. While the people of Pine Grove wait for that money to be used, they continue to support one another.

"They've got a lot of hope. There's a really good community base here that just cares about each other and everyone's working to help each other out," Megan Lopez said.

There is no word yet when the grant money will be used to fix the flooding issue in Pine Grove.

The Red Cross shelter in Pine Grove has closed down and those resources have been moved nearby to Tremont.

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