BLOOMSBURG -- Bloomsburg residents know all too well what it's like living through a flood. The flood of 2011 left the town with millions of dollars in damages.
"We ended up with about four and a half feet of water in our house," Larry Hopper said.
Now, many Bloomsburg residents won't have to worry about flooding. Town council recently approved a plan to apply for grant money to build a flood wall. The wall would protect more than 200 houses and businesses.
"I think it's a pretty good idea. It would stop a lot of damage around the area," Mark Hughes said.
The flood wall would cost around $22 million, and stretch from Autoneum to 12th Street. Taxes could go up, but Larry Hopper is not worried about that.
"If this flood wall gets built, I no longer need flood insurance. Flood insurance just got reduced, but it's still about $2,000 a year. So you can go ahead and up my taxes a little bit. I'm okay with that," Hopper said.
The proposed flood wall wouldn't protect everyone. The people living in the west end of town--right by the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds--wouldn't be protected.
"I was thoroughly disgusted and disappointed because we have fought for the flood wall since '72," Sarah Rudolph said.
Many houses are for sale in this section of town. Neighbors say no one will buy them because they are in a flood zone, but Bloomsburg officials say the plan is preliminary, and they hope to offer flood protection to everyone in the coming years.
"That's a big part of this, looking at the whole community--all of Bloomsburg--and what we can do to make it the most beneficial for everyone going forward," Lauren Martz said.
The next step is applying for a grant once it becomes available.
