Overflowing creek inundates Camp Redwing
Jonathan Mauk prayed for no more rain late Wednesday morning after torrential downpours pounded Renfrew overnight Tuesday.
“I'm gonna keep my fingers and toes and everything crossed tonight,” said Mauk, a ranger for Camp Redwing, a Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania-owned camp in Butler County. “The challenge right now is knowing what's going to happen in the next 24 hours.”
The 123-acre camp is surrounded on three sides by the Connoquenessing Creek in a low-lying area off Radar School Road. At one point late Tuesday night — the last time Mauk was able to access the campground until Wednesday morning — he said the creek waters were rising fast.
According to the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, readings Wednesday afternoon in Zelienople showed Connoquenessing Creek at 15.34 feet. That's more than five feet above flood stage, and just about three feet away from the highest flood stage on record — 18.17 feet in 2004 following Hurricane Ivan.
Mauk took stock of the damage as waters receded Wednesday morning, but also braced for the second round of showers that moved through Wednesday afternoon. He spent much of the day assessing damage from the first round of storms in an effort to start prioritizing cleanup tasks for the camp, which is used by Girl Scouts troops all summer long.
A group of 130 scouts and their leaders was scheduled to use the camp this weekend.“We're still assessing the damage,” Stefanie Marshall, a spokeswoman for GSWP, said Wednesday morning. “The water was up on some of our buildings, but we haven't gotten a full listing of anything just yet.”Mauk said the worst of the flooding at the campground occurred where the footbridge crosses the Connoquenessing. A massive tree washed downstream in the storm and landed against the bridge's foundation, causing the bridge itself to bend. Other affected areas include the camp's amphitheater area and corral, which remained underwater late Wednesday morning.Marshall said GSWP hopes to organize volunteers to help with cleanup and repair efforts at the camp.Mauk said the bulk of the cleanup would involve clearing silt and mud out of buildings, tents, shelters, the amphitheater and yurts as well as sanitizing those areas.The Girl Scouts are currently organizing volunteers to help with the cleanup efforts.
Those interested in helping with cleanup efforts at Camp Redwing in Renfrew can visit these websites:To sign up to volunteer: http://bit.ly/GSWPAredwing.To donate: gswpa.org/donate (designate the donation for cleanup efforts).
