WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Our Stormtracker 16 team is forecasting at least five inches of rain for parts of central Pennsylvania tomorrow. But it's not the rivers that crews are worried about.
When Debby, now a Tropical Depression, starts dumping rain, Williamsport's Department of Public Works will have 26 employees ready to go.
Scott Livermore is the city's Department of Public Works Director. His crews were out all-day Thursday clearing cover basins to prevent any potential flash flooding.
"We can only get so many of them, there's a lot of them in the city, we would ask maybe the landowners—home owners of their property to give us a hand, assist with that, but we are doing our best trying to get everything we can, get cleaned up, get ready, our sweeper truck is out every day all day throughout the week and just doing our best to prepare for this storm." said Livermore
In Luzerne County, temporary walls were put up around Konopinski power Equipment in the back mountain- a business that sits right along Toby Creek.
Folks here aren't taking any chances after getting flooded back in 2006, and another close call in 2011.
Luzerne county crews promise they'll be on high alert.
"The biggest concern that we have are flash flooding right now, the rain is going to come fast and going to come hard tomorrow. So, we are looking at the local tributaries- the creeks that feed into the Susquehanna- and we're going to monitor the height of the Susquehanna as well." said Dave Elmore, Luzerne County EMA Deputy Director.
Crews in both communities are quick to remind drivers to absolutely avoid any roads that are covered with water.
"There could be sink holes that you're unaware of, you just don't know your vehicle could potentially float if it is deep enough you just don't know what's under it, so it is very important to just don't drive through it and stay back." said Livermore.