SCRANTON, Pa. — A meeting held Wednesday night in Scranton came nearly two months to the day since a devasting flood.
"We are just in a waiting phase. We have to get our electrical box back in and everything is pretty well shot." said Sandra Majorino of Scranton.
The Keyser Valley Community Center was filled with Scranton residents like Majorino, looking to hear how the city plans to fix storm water and flooding problems throughout the electric city.
The mayor's office as well as city engineers outlined a study that was done back in 2021.
In the Keyser Valley section of the city, it calls for more than $8.6 million in potential stormwater management improvements, including better water systems and a new pump station on Merrifield Avenue.
"They are already medicating some stormwater problems above Merrifield Avenue, so I think it's positive." said Gene Romaldini.:
Romaldini was one of the many people who was affected by flash flooding that destroyed numerous homes and left one-person dead back in early September.
For years he and neighbors along North Merrifield Ave knew something needed to be done.
Now he says the plans are in place.
"In the next several months, we are going to start seeing some design drawings approvals maybe some work that's going to occur in the next 12 months." said Romaldini.
"We've been working with GPI since 2021 on this, putting the funding together putting the plans together trying to get the permits for these projects." Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti said.
While the evening's presentation looked at fixing mainly the issues facing Keyser Valley residents, Mayor Cognetti says this is only one part of the plan to correct the flood prone neighborhoods throughout the city.
"Anybody who is home floods on a regular basis, that's an awful thing September 9 was an awful event, and we are continuing to try and help those residents and move forward." said Cognetti.
The Keyser Valley Stormwater Project is one of many that fall into the city's American Rescue Plan Act, which originally included more than $17 million to address stormwater issues.