SCRANTON, Pa. — Clean up continues for residents and business owners in Scranton, and Thursday they had a chance to access resources as they recover from the weekend’s flash flooding at an event hosted by the city.
Charlie Newcomb owns a rental property on North Cameron Ave. He and his family lived there until the last time it flooded and they moved. Newcomb is thankful that city officials put this event together.
“We had no idea where to go. There was no assistance, we didn't have flooding insurance. The homeowner's insurance didn't pay for it. We had to redo the driveway ourselves back then. This is fantastic because you don't know where to turn. Hopefully they can get help.” said Newcomb.
Robert White's home along Legget Street is surrounded by mud and rocks, and he was thankful for this event to get some help. His home is no stranger to flooding, but says it doesn't get easier to navigate the cleanup.
“It's a very traumatic experience. It is still traumatic for me. We've flooded several times over the last five years and in that case we fixed it ourselves. We did what we had to do, but this time it's more” said White.
The hardest hit areas in Scranton that flooded have suffered damage in the past, and people who live in those places say they are sick of having to go through this over and over.
“I just wish they did something about this for the last 15 years but hopefully FEMA and PEMA can help everybody over there because it's just terrible.” said Newcomb.
“The city has been doing a lot of work and planning on storm water. Not as much as we would have liked to before an event like this but we're going to keep going. We're continuing to work with neighboring boroughs and looking toward that joint storm water authority so we can start to attack this as a regional body, not just individual cities.” said Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti.
There is a second outreach event Friday from 10am until 2pm at the Holy Rosary Cener on West Market St. in Scranton.