Forward Twp. faces costly cleanup
Charlie Behm, roadmaster of Forward Township, stood on the Laesie Road bridge Wednesday afternoon and surveyed the aftermath of heavy storms that dumped several inches in a short time. Meanwhile, the waters of the slowly receding Glade Run lapped at the underside of the bridge while the usually quiet stream rushed past and debris collected in the guardrails.
“It's a tremendous amount of work here and a tremendous amount of expense,” Behm said of the damaged roads and bridges throughout the township. “We have a bunch of road slides and pipes out of the ground.”
The bridge at Laesie Road was closed to traffic Wednesday along with an entire section of road beyond the bridge that was completely washed away by the rains. In the distance, a car swept up by the swift waters of the tributary in the early morning hours remained lodged in the trees that stopped it. Behm said crews executed a water rescue to get the couple standing on the roof of the flooded vehicle.
“When you see road closed signs, turn around. Don't try to drive through,” Behm said.
Behm and two others were out assessing damage throughout Forward Township on Wednesday, as well as running yellow caution tape across closed bridges and roads.
“Nobody can guess it. Nobody knew last night would be this bad,” said Phil Hay, whose excavation company is under contract with Forward Township for road work and cleanup. “Even though this water is going down, it really wouldn't take much to put it back up there.”
Glade Run, which empties into the Connoquenessing Creek, jumped its banks and flooded roads and yards throughout the township. In addition to the swollen creek, Behm and Hay said there were multiple landslides throughout the hills surrounding the area.
“Every road has shoulder issues,” Hay said.
