RENFREW — The mystic scene created by fog rising from the swollen Connoquenessing Creek on Friday was no consolation to property owners whose basements were being flooded for the umpteenth time.

Janet Mannas of East Main Street stood on the top step of her covered porch and looked across her flooded front yard to inundated Renfrew Park across the street.

Various debris floated past as the muddy water continued on its collision course with the one-lane bridge a few hundred feet west of the Mannas property.

Mannas said she had 2 feet of water in her basement as of about 10 a.m., but had moved her furnace and other vulnerable items to the first floor after the remnants of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 severely flooded her property.

“Go down now, you've had your fun,” Mannas said to the Connoquenessing, which looked all but alive Friday.

Mannas said all she could do was wait patiently to see how high the creek would rise, but she did not feel alone in the worrisome situation.

“We live in the best neighborhood,” Mannas declared. “All the neighbors are friends and we all help each other out.”

A few doors down, at the Renfrew Post Office, creek water lapped at the stairs that, in better weather, led customers from a small parking lot into the building.

On Friday morning, a large blue mailbox just off the steps was nearly half-submerged in the Connoquenessing's waters.

Lawrence McClain Jr., manager of post office operations at the U.S. Postal Service in Pittsburgh, made a trip to Renfrew to monitor the effects of the frequently flooded creek.

“It hasn't been good to us, has it?” McClain said of the creek.

He said the post office's carriers were on their routes delivering mail and the employees were parked along the train tracks above the post office.

McClain said vulnerable items and mail were moved off the floor to higher locations. If the creek rose any more, he planned to move all the small post office's retail stock and general operations to the Butler post office.

If water were to enter the building, McClain said he would take all mail in the Renfrew post office boxes to the Connoquenessing post office.

Saxonburg Postmaster Alan Snyder was also on hand at the Renfrew office to help out Renfrew Postmaster Judy Egley and her staff.

Friday was Egley's first glimpse of the fury the usually placid creek can unleash.

“When I (requested) this office everyone said 'Oh Judy, it floods down there' and I said 'eh,'” Egley said. “Now I see the magnitude of it.”

Penn Township policeman Jack Ripper, Penn Township Volunteer Fire Chief Bill Glace, a handful of Penn firefighters and county and township emergency management officials stood at the edge of the flooded Connoquenessing just north of Main Street.

In his 40 years with the fire department, Glace has seen the creek flood Renfrew about a dozen times.

“We just make sure that everyone with water in their houses can evacuate,” Glace said.

Ripper said property owners along East and West Main Street are accustomed to the creek breaching its banks.

“They're moving their belongings out, but they're staying,” Ripper said of those residents.

He said when the creek measured 15 feet at about 10 a.m., he and firefighters walked Lewis Alley behind the homes facing East Main Street to check on each and every resident.

“We want to ensure their safety,” Ripper said.

Dave Waldrop of Adams Township and his crew were at a home on East Main Street to remodel a bathroom. On Friday morning the crew could be seen loading the homeowner's furniture and other belongings into two trucks for transport to a relative's house uphill.

The home had 5 to 8 feet of water in the basement.

“It's still coming up,” Waldrop said.

Above Renfrew on the north side of the train tracks, a plugged storm drain created a lake in the road.

Workers from the state Department of Transportation armed with shovels stood knee-deep in the water as they tried to clear the blockage.

They subsequently closed Meridian Road from Powder Mill Road to the creek, as the standing water was becoming unsafe for most vehicles to cross.

Road safety warning

Mike Mattis, PennDOT District 10 county maintenance manager, said crews spent much of the morning cleaning drains and monitoring water on roads.

He expected the rain and flooding Friday to impact the ability of the crews throughout the county to treat the roads ahead of the freezing rain and snowfall forecast for Friday night.

“All the (salt) residue that was left over has been washed away,” Mattis said, “and we can't pretreat because the rain washes that off.”

He said PennDOT crews planned to begin with granular material and anti-skid, then plow and salt normally once the snow began.

“We are prepared to handle any type of storms,” Mattis said.

Mattis said PennDOT is urging motorists to stay home as much as possible over the weekend, and not to drive through standing water.

He said updated road conditions are available at www.511pa.com.