Slippery Rock community recovers from flash flood
SLIPPERY ROCK — Municipal crews and business owners were busy Monday afternoon, July 6, cleaning up from flash flooding that caused the borough to be placed under a state of emergency.
Following severe storms Sunday night, Butler County Emergency Services dispatch reported a vehicle was stuck in floodwater on Elm Street around 3:30 p.m. At least a portion of Elm and New Castle streets were closed due to flooding for a period of time.
As of 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Mayor Jondavid Longo said many of the borough’s culverts and waterways were flooded and the borough was doing everything it can to alleviate the situation, which he’d declared a “disaster emergency.”
“Floodwaters have entered and inundated many basements in residential homes and commercial buildings throughout the borough, causing substantial property damage, potential contamination from sewage and stormwater, and posing serious risks to public health, safety and welfare,” he said in a Sunday social media post.
As of Monday, much of the borough had returned to normal. Businesses were open, and borough streets department trucks were moving about to assess and clean up.
While entire sections of the borough were seemingly unaffected, some businesses on New Castle and Franklin streets faced varying levels of damage.
En Lai, a Chinese restaurant, posted a video to its Facebook on Sunday night showing an employee scooping floodwater off the floor of the restaurant’s dining area.
“We are experiencing flooding in our restaurant, which is an unprecedented situation,” the post read.
Jennifer Kong, an employee of the restaurant, said Monday afternoon most of the cleanup work was completed before opening. While she said there was more work to do, such as vacuuming water out of carpeting, the business was not significantly impacted.
Next door, at Slippery Rock Pharmacy, owner Clint Kassi worked to move wet boxes and other supplies outside while an employee vacuumed the carpet. He said the extent of flooding was the soaked carpet and damage to a small amount of items and boxes.
An employee of Harry’s Joint — a smoke shop — said the store had about an inch of water on the floor when he came in Monday. He said work and damage was minimal due to the lack of carpet, letting him vacuum the floor easily.
Not every business impacted by flooding had an easy cleanup on its hands.
David Gordley, who runs his dentistry practice at 340 Franklin St., announced Sunday night on social media his business would be closed Monday. He later announced the business also would be closed Tuesday and tentatively open Wednesday.
While the office was closed Monday afternoon, Gordley, his wife and a cleaning crew were still at the location working to clean up.
“I lost all my carpet, a few computers, some areas needed the rest of the flooring ripped out, all the baseboards are gone. This is the second time in four years (I’ve had to replace carpet),” he said.
He said his parking lot usually floods because debris builds up in the drains. While he tries to monitor it, quick storms have caused flooding in the past as well.
“I brought it up to the borough several times, and I actually paid to have the backyards of my neighbors cleaned this year to see if it would help. It was hundreds of dollars. It might have helped a little bit, but not enough,” he said.
Gordley said both recovery and prevention related to his business flooding has become exhaustive, frustrating and costly.
“We’ll be back up in a few days. We’ll be working with concrete floors for a while until I get the flooring replaced. The bigger question is if the borough is going to do anything to solve the issue going forward so I don’t have rain anxiety,” he said.
He said he spoke to Longo on the phone for about an hour Monday morning, and the mayor told Gordley he plans to bring the matter to borough council’s attention. This alone did not alleviate his fears, he said.
“Last time I went in and talked to council, I was just told to get flood insurance,” he said. “So I said ‘I’m just supposed to let this happen to me over and over again?’”
He said he is thankful for his staff and their family who rushed to the business to help clean up and minimize damages Sunday night.
