Runoff leaves family soaked

By Wayne Laepple
The Daily Item

March 06, 2008 01:41 pm

— SHAMOKIN DAM -- When Lenora Springfield woke up and heard the hard rain driving against her Monroe Township home, her first thought was, "Not again."
She knew runoff from 11th Avenue was flooding the basement of her home, which sits just a few feet from the street.
She and her husband, Ken, have lived in the house since 1985, and ever since the state Department of Transportation reconstructed 11th Avenue in 1990, they've had ongoing problems with runoff from the road flooding their property.
The road makes an S-curve near their home, and the super-elevation changes right in front of their house.
Springfield pointed out the drainage ditch on the other side of the road, which was overflowing. The ditch is at the base of a steep embankment and is nearly filled with gravel, dirt and leaves.
"It's too close to the edge of the road, but they don't want to disturb the bank," Springfield said.
A 15-foot-wide sheet of water ran across the road. On the Springfields' side of the road, it separated, with part of it traveling down the hill beside the house, while the rest ran down the walkway and through their carport before traveling down the hill toward the creek. The water has eroded a channel in the yard, and where the slope levels out is a large fan-shaped deposit of mud and stones.
"They keep raising the road an inch or two every time they repave," he said.
Springfield said there was about 3 inches of water in the basement Thursday morning. Her sons came and were able to remove most of the water. The carpet in the family room was still soaked, however.
Despite the headaches of cleaning up the mess, the Springfields are a bit more optimistic. Ken Bair, Snyder County maintenance manager for PennDOT, stopped by their home Wednesday morning and saw for himself how the runoff crosses the road onto their property.
"He's the first one from PennDOT who has actually been here when the water was running across the road," Springfield said. "Maybe he'll be able to help us."
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