BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — State, local and federal officials came together to celebrate a milestone for Bloomsburg. The first phase of residential flood protection in Bloomsburg is finished.
"This is very exciting for the town of Bloomsburg. Since 1972 we've been striving to get some flood protection in the town of Bloomsburg. We were the largest municipality in the Susquehanna River Valley that had no flood protection," Mayor Bill Kreisher said.
Construction on this phase of the project started last spring. It expands on the $30 million flood wall that already went through town.
"It's going to protect 125 homes, 30 businesses and the school district. It doesn't get any better than that," SEDA-COG Executive Director John Brown said.
It also includes stormwater and sewer improvements.
"The devastation of just getting water in your basement is a problem and yet the devastation of a flood that would take out homes," Brown said.
"I don't have to worry about it. Hopefully, it works," Julie Wickham said.
Julie Wickham owns a house that is protected by this levee system. She says the project played a role in her decision to buy that house.
"I didn't want to buy a house that was going to flood, and I didn't want to take a chance if it did," Wickham said.
Mayor Kreisher says Bloomsburg still needs flood protection on the west end of town, and he hopes that will happen next.
The completion of the project comes on the ninth anniversary of flooding in Bloomsburg in 2011.