HANOVER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Shop owners at a plaza in Hanover Township have been at their businesses since 3 a.m., cleaning out an inch and a half of mud from their storefronts/
"As you can see, got a whole mess to clean up, man. I have never been through the flood situation here with the NEPA Valley, but I see that it gets terrible," said Gerald Madison, as he stood in mud that filled three of his businesses in this strip mall in Hanover Township.
The day before, record rainfall drained into Solomon Creek behind the building and flooded the tenants overnight.
"As the water started rising, we just kept watching. We brought sandbags. We came here, brought all the beds up on cinder blocks, and just prayed. But they got us, got us good. When I came back, it was about an inch, inch and a half thick of mud throughout the whole entire place," Debbie Denoy said.
"Probably was like seven, eight inches of water started coming in from the front door from the back door. We tried to stop with the sandbags; mud started coming into places. It was not pleasant; it was very sad. Our church, you know, we try to do the best we can, but hey, we're cleaning now, trying to get back on track again," said Pastor Eric Ramos, Lifting Up The Fallen Church.
"The things that we go through that Mother Nature causes, it's just is what it is," Madison said.
As they clean up, the business owners tell us this is the last thing they needed after the pandemic, and they are left with thoughts about what's next.
"Money, money, money, I don't know. I just got to get it cleaned up and move on with the process, you know, let the process work. It is what it is. It's nothing that can be done about it. It's already done. It's here," Madison added.
"Just a lot of stress, scared, going to lose everything. And hopefully, we'll be back and reopen in a couple of weeks," Denoy said.
While some businesses here hope to be open by Friday, others say it could be anywhere from days to weeks to clean up.