"The Morning Call Inc., Copyright 2002"
Date: SATURDAY, September 28, 1985
PARCHED VALLEY EARTH DRINKS 8.75 INCHES OF GLORIA'S RAIN
DROUGHT HELPED KEEP DAMAGES UNDER CONTROL
IN GLORIA'S WAKE
The Morning Call
Hurricane Gloria passed over the Atlantic Ocean some 125 miles east of the Lehigh Valley, bringing not the destruction she threatened, but delivering what might be the fatal blow to Pennsylvania's seemingly unbeatable drought conditions.
With the Valley on the outer edge of the storm, damage came mostly in the form of power outages, with a whooping 45,000 Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. customers being affected in some way, according to spokesman Bert Daday.
What Gloria didn't bring in destruction, she brought in rainfall a 24-hour period.
Judging from the lowest pressure reading, the eye of what was feared would be one of the worst hurricanes in history was closest to the Valley at about 10:53 a.m., according to National Weather Service meteorologist Charles Giannetta.
''This was just what the doctor ordered,'' proclaimed Dave Mashek, a spokesman with the Department of Environmental Resources, which has battled Pennsylvania's dry spell since the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) issued a four-state drought warning in January. The drought emergency has been in effect since April 22.
''The long dry spell has ended with Hurricane Gloria,'' said Nicholas DeBenedictis, DER secretary.
There was no lifting of the drought emergency, however. But Mashek said Gloria distributed her rainfall at just a slow enough pace to make it count.
''The ground was able to retain some of it, so it will improve the moisture andhopefully improve the ground water,'' Mashek said. ''The hurricane provided us with the best of both worlds, in that we got the rainfall we needed and it did not occur over a real short amount of time.
''It is too early to tell what long-term effect this will have on the drought.'' He said this will be known sometime next week when water runoff passes.
But all indications were that Gloria delivered what was needed to at least significantly reduce drought conditions.
The most welcome effect was that the salt line in the Delaware River - an increasingly threatening factor to drinking water as the drought lingered - was pushed back ''several miles,'' according to Mashek. Earlier this week, Mashek reported, the salt line was a dangerous 5 1/2 miles from the mouth of the Schuylkill River. Releases were being made from the Blue Marsh Reservoir in Berks County and the Francis E. Walter Dam in Luzerne and Carbon counties to push back the salt level.
Thursday night, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates reservoirs for the DRBC, was releasing additional water from the two reservoirs and other sites to allow for possible flood water entering the reservoirs.
The Lehigh River yesterday rose to the flood warning stage of 20 feet about 5 p.m. Flood stage is 22 feet at Allentown.
''Hopefully, we will be getting some regular rainfall to keep up the flows,'' Mashek said.
Another record rainfall was recorded at the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Airport, with 6.42 inches marked over a 24-hour period. Around the state, rainfall was 9 inches in eastern Carbon County, 3 inches in Schuylkill County and 2.75 inches in Harrisburg.
While environmental officials looked toward an end to the dry spell, emergency management officials said the drought lasted long enough to create conditions that prevented severe flooding.
''We were lucky the ground was dry,'' said Jerry Duckett, director of the Lehigh County Emergency Management Agency. ''Normally we would not have been able to take that much rain.'' He said a 3-inch downpour can produce as much or more flooding under normal conditions than came yesterday.
Because creeks and rivers didn't start rising until about noon ground absorbed much rain.
Duckett also said the Valley ''was lucky we didn't get the winds.''
Winds peaked about 40 mph at the airport from noon to 1 p.m., according to the weather service. A top wind gust of 56 mph was recorded at 12:22 p.m. ''We were on the extreme outer edge,'' said Giannetta. ''We weathered it pretty well.'' Duckett said the county emergency management agency prepared itself throughout the night for the worst.
Phone contacts were set up with fire, police and rescue officials who are part of the emergency network, but they were never called, Duckett said.
Also preparing for the worst, numerous business told their employees to stay home from work.
Schools districts throughout the Valley canceled classes early amid the uncertainties of what forces Hurricane Gloria would bring.
The main entrance to the administration building at Lehigh County Community College was boarded up. A posting on the board said: ''College is closed. Classes are canceled. No one will be allowed in the building.''
Allentown officials put out word about midmorning that all emergency vehicles fill tanks with fuel.
Compounding problems were extensive power outages. But PP&L spokesman Daday said, ''The point is that we were really spared. We had an early warning; we were all prepared and reacted in good fashion.''
During the entire storm period from Thursday to late yesterday, an estimated 45,000 PP&L customers throughout Lehigh, Northampton, Bucks and Montgomery counties were affected in some way.
The biggest group of outages saw 33,375 customers affected as a transmission pole was snapped off by the wind at 12:22 p.m. about a half-mile from the intersection of Route 22 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike, said Daday. The outage resulted when a 69,000-volt line came to rest on a 38,000-volt line. As a result, 23,448 customers were without service for four minutes in an area that included central Allentown and South Whitehall Township. Some 25 minutes later, an additional 3,509 customers had power restored.
The remaining 6,418 customers, which were located mostly in the Trexlertown, Fogelsville and East Texas areas, had power restored at 3:54 p.m., Daday said.
As of 5 p.m., 3,500 customers remained without power, and extra crews brought in from Hazleton, Shamokin, Wilkes-Barre and Lancaster were to be working in the area overnight and today, according to Daday.
The telephone company received reports of problems from 300 Lehigh Valley customers, said Bell of Pennsylvania spokesman David Hendricks. Phone outages were related mostly to wet cables and were reported in scattered areas, with no main trunk lines down, Hendricks said.
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Airport Manager Jack Yohe said flights were uninterrupted.
Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority officials said buses were running ''pretty much on schedule, with some delays of a minor nature due to flooding.''
Portions of the Lehigh Valley Thruway at Route 309 and Cedar Crest Boulevard were flooded but passable.
Allentown's Cedar Parkway was heavily affected, with flood waters that pushed the Cedar Creek over its banks early in the storm. Only tops of picnic tables were visible, and access roads to the park were barricaded. Flood waters crept close to pouring into the pool itself. A little farther east, the creek's high waters poured across earthen banks bordering the city's parks maintenance building, flooding the parking lot.
Allentown Communications Center personnel reported high winds blew off a roof on a building at 525 Washington St.
The Lehigh County Chapter of the American Red Cross dispatched workers to Atlantic City to set up and man temporary shelters. They drove to Pleasantville, where they traveled with New Jersey Red Cross volunteers to Atlantic City.
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
There were 4,000 scattered power outages in Northampton County, Boyle estimated. ''It could have been a lot worse,'' he said.
Three cars parked on 7th Avenue in Bethlehem floated into each other, causing minor damage. Several others were washed onto sidewalks and private property.
Route 512 south of Bath, Redington Road near Steel City in Lower Saucon Township, and the Main Street extension underpass in Freemansburg were closed. PennDOT officials said Route 512 would probably remain closed until this morning, but expected Redington Road, closed because of a mud slide, to be opened last night. Freemansburg officials expected the underpass to be closed at least until this morning.
Nazareth Area Police Chief Joseph Roccosanto said his department's major problem was a sinkhole on Newburg Road near Route 33 caused by recent construction work. It resulted in the temporary closing of the eastbound lane of Newburg Road at Country Club Lane.
The Nazareth Area School District held classes, although the Bethlehem Area, Northampton Area and Saucon Valley districts closed, as did Northampton County Area Community College.
Nazareth Superintendent John Jenkins reported no problems getting students to school, and said only two bus drivers experienced problems with minor flooding.
However, the East Lawn Fire Co. and the Vigilance Hose Co. of Nazareth were called to Nazareth High School because of smoke in the gymnasium. Jenkins said a motor that controls emergency generators caused an odor and was disconnected. A power failure also was reported at the Bushkill Elementary School about a half hour before dismissal.
Jenkins said the district received several calls from ''irate'' parents, but said he felt the decision to have school was good. Jenkins said he took into account that the storm was not predicted to hit the area directly, and that many parents work, so students would be home alone. ''They are much safer in a school building,'' he said.
The roof collapsed at Dietrich Chevrolet on Route 512 in Pen Argyl about 1:30 a.m., according to owner Jim Dietrich. No one was injured. One car parked inside the service area was crushed. Dietrich said he does not have a damage estimate, but expects the loss to be covered by insurance.
The Monocacy Creek overflowed, flooding to 18th Century Industrial Area of Historic Bethlehem Inc., causing the temporary closing of the museums there.
No exhibits were damaged, but HBI Vice President Donald Squair termed the damage ''considerable.'' He said the full amount will not be known until all water has drained.
Squair is asking for volunteers to assist in the cleanup. Anyone interested may call 691-5300 on Monday.
The reception for the ''Luckenbach Mill Gallery Juried Crafts Exhibition'' is now tentatively scheduled for 2-3:30 p.m. today. But access may be hindered and may force cancellation of the event.
The storm also forced postponement of the 23rd annual Tournament of Bands scheduled for today The new time is 7 p.m. Thursday in Al Erdosy Stadium, Northampton.
EASTON-PHILLIPSBURG
Streams overflowed their banks, water gushed into basements and mudslides and cave-ins closed roads throughout the Easton-Phillipsburg area yesterday.
School was canceled on both sides of the Delaware River. Warren County Courthouse closed, but Northampton County Courthouse remained open despite the threat of Hurricane Gloria.
Road crews closed Limekiln Road between Main and Andover streets in Phillipsburg for repairs after discovering it was undermined at S. Main Street. Town officials said Andover Street, usually one-way, will be designated a two-way street until Limekiln reopens.
Fed by area streams, the Delaware River rose first at the rate of six inches an hour and later at a foot an hour but came nowhere near flood stage, bridge police reported. As of 8 p.m. yesterday, the Delaware River had risen to 12.7 feet above normal, but the speed at which it was rising was beginning to taper off, according to a spokesman for the Delaware River Bridge Commission. Flood stage is 22 feet above normal.
The Lehigh River surged over Lehigh Drive by mid-morning, and mud skidded along a steep embankment onto the drive in what one witness said looked like ''the whole mountainside coming down.'' Easton public works director John Cappellano ordered the street closed.
Cappellano said highway and sewage crews worked until 3 a.m. in the early stages of the storm clearing up spot flooding brought on by squalls.
Firefighters manned pumps in water-filled cellars throughout the area and battled blazes caused by fallen wires. Water seeped into the emergency dispatch center in the basement of the Lopatcong Township municipal building. Overflowing streams closed roads through rural New Jersey and in Palmer and Forks Townships.
BANGOR
In Bangor, Director of Community Development Gordon Heller said MartinsCreek crested at four feet, well below the flood stage of eight feet.
Heller said he had received reports that more than seven inches of rain fell locally, but possibly over a longer period of time than in 1967, when downtown Bangor suffered severe flooding.
Heller said local Emergency Management Director Robert Stasak had been coordinating efforts in the borough.
Bangor suffered scattered power outages from the storm. Metropolitan Edison Co. personnel were called in to restore power.
The Bangor Fire Department was busy yesterday pumping water from flooded basements.
Heller also said several large trees had been felled by the storm.
MONROE COUNTY
Monroe County streams became high, wide and fast-moving from the 7-10 inches of rain that began Thursday night and continued through noon yesterday.
Marvin Stuart, director of Monroe County's Emergency Service management office, said no major problems were reported to his office.
Downed trees and wires blocked some secondary roads, and others were barricaded when streams spilled over their banks.
For the most part, officials said, because of the drought conditions, the county's problems were not much worse than they would have been in a severe thunderstorm.
ALBURTIS RESIDENTS WARNED TO BOIL THEIR WATER
Jim Kells, maintenance coordinator for Alburtis, reminds residents that all water used in the next 48 hours must be boiled before using.
Yesterday's storm knocked out the borough's pumps for several hours and prevented the regular chlorination of the water.
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"WEATHER BY GIANNETTA"