Rivers crest but waters still cover parts of the East

January 21, 1996
Web posted at: 10:50 p.m. EST

WHEELING, West Virginia (CNN) -- Emergency officials and local residents from Ohio and West Virginia to upstate New York anxiously watched local rivers slowly subside Sunday.

But while they surveyed the damage caused by last week's flooding, the possibility of more high water loomed. Weather forecasters predicted warmer temperatures this week, and warmer weather would mean melting snow rolling into already swollen rivers. (Huge chunks of ice rush through swollen river - 755K QuickTime movie)

Major rivers -- including the Ohio, Susquehanna, Potomac and Delaware -- crested as much as 20 feet above flood stage but by mid-day Sunday were showing signs of subsiding.

Wheeling, West Virginia resident Joe Samol, 72, said that watching flood waters rise was like watching a parade. Samol, a resident of the Wheeling Island neighborhood, was one of a handful of residents who refused to evacuate when the Army and Marines used boats to ferry residents away from the rising Ohio River.

"I can see everything floating down the river: docks, refrigerators, boats, trees," Samol said. "We always have to have floods to clean our basements out."

In Harper's Ferry, West Virginia -- where the Shennandoah and Potomac rivers meet -- the water crested at 31 feet, some 13 feet above flood stage.

The Mayor of Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, Kip Stowell said most of the greatest flood damage was at the Harper's Ferry National Historic Park. He said 100 volunteers worked all night to get the Civil War exhibits packed up and moved to higher ground.

By Sunday afternoon, the water had dropped a few feet in Harper's Ferry. Officials throughout West Virginia and other states were hoping that meant the floods would be disappearing for good.

"It's dropping at a slow pace, but it's dropping, thank God," said Will Turani, a spokesman for the Ohio County Emergency Management Agency in Wheeling.

Governors push Clinton for disaster assistance

President Bill Clinton signed a declaration making Pennsylvania a disaster area on Sunday, making the state eligible for federal emergency management funds. Just hours before, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge complained that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had been unresponsive to his urgent requests for help. (128K AIFF sound or 128K WAV sound)

Clinton also signed a disaster declaration for five counties in Maryland Sunday. Gov. Parris Glendening asked for federal disaster aid after flooding washed out homes, businesses and roads along the Potomac and Susquehanna rivers.

Part of the flooding in eastern Maryland is due to the opening of flood gates at the Conowingo Dam, federal officials said. The gates were opened over the weekend to ease pressure on the dam.

Pennsylvania's problems are acute

Pennsylvania Governor Ridge said 57 of the state's 67 counties were flooded. In Wilkes-Barre, emergency aid was particularly urgent. About 8,000 of the 100,000 people evacuated late Saturday night were still not able to return to their flooded homes by Sunday afternoon.

"From what we can determine, there's $50 million in public damage to infrastructure and $50 million to private homes," said Jim Siracuse, executive director of the Luzerne County Emergency Management Agency.

The Susquehanna River crested just under official flood stage at 34 feet, but the waters hit the city surprisingly fast.

"I was surprised," said one woman. "I was at work. I didn't have time to get anything. My husband got some clothes and that was it."

To make matters worse, officials said heat would not be restored to 5,000 to 8,000 homes for another month because furnaces were just too wet.

"Without heat, we can't stay here," said Isabelle Bannon, a Wilkes-Barre resident. "It's too cold. Running water is all you have." (128K AIFF sound or 128K WAV sound)

Parts of New Jersey, D.C. area still under water

In neighboring New Jersey, thousands of Trenton residents who evacuated Saturday returned Sunday to see what the rising Delaware River did to their homes. But a major highway connecting Trenton to Pennsylvania and the rest of New Jersey was still closed Sunday afternoon.

Tom Brannon, assistant city manager of Alexandria, Virginia, predicted the flooding in his town would turn to enormous patches of ice when temperatures drop Sunday night. About 20 square blocks were closed Sunday, including residential, commercial and park areas along the Potomac, Brannon said.

The flooding has also created health concerns. In some areas, the rising waters caused overflow in drainage and sewage systems. Water was backing up in some toilets and street drains.

Parts of the nation's capital were also under water on Sunday. The Potomac crested almost seven feet above flood stage in Georgetown, and the weather service said that the tidal river would most likely remain above flood stage Monday morning as high tide moves in.

Many streets and roads along the river are closed, including the George Washington Parkway between Old Town, Alexandria and Key Bridge, and the Clara Barton Parkway from Chain Bridge to the Glen Echo turnaround.

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