LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — After heavy rains Monday, many have flooded basements and yards that will take a lot of pumping and days to dry out. In Luzerne County's Back Mountain, the troubles were the same for many along Toby Creek.
By 11 a.m. Monday, Solomon Creek in Wilkes-Barre had gone down to four feet. That meant DPW and fire crews could take down the floodgates. But, not everyone in the city was in the clear after the heavy rains overnight.
"It was up to my house here. I had to get my car and move it immediately because it was still coming up. It was you can see the current is pushing up this way," said Joe Novick of Dallas Township.
Novick said this is nothing new, but the frequency over the last year of flooding in his yard from the creek has increased.
"Probably seven or eight times in ten years, but it was four times this year alone," added Novick.
Dallas Township EMA Coordinator Alan Pugh says these are issues his team continues to deal with and will work to stay on top of as the creek levels go down.
"We still have flood watches up, which means we still have the potential. Hopefully, that will pass, but we're going to just have to stay vigilant the rest of the day, and hopefully, the rain will stop, and we'll get this to drain out," explained Pugh.
When we look at what's underneath some of the receded water, Pugh says it serves as a very important reminder not to drive through running water.
"This morning, when you first got here, it just looked like water running over the top of the road, not realizing how gouged out was. So, if you tried to drive through it, you'd obviously be in serious trouble," said Pugh.
"You always have to remember when you're looking better to be safe than sorry because you just don't know it can look very normal on the top is water flowing over the road, but you do not know what's going on below it, and that's the dangers with running water," he said.
As emergency crews stay vigilant as the creeks calm down, they hope you do the same.