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Thursday, March 24, 2011

Pipe Burst Floods Mine; Home

ELIZABETH TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A clogged drainage pipe in an Elizabeth Township mine burst on Monday, sending water gushing into the air and damaging a nearby house.

The incident happened in the 2000 block of Douglas Run Road at about 12:15 p.m. According to initial reports, at least 10 inches of water was flooding the roadway at one time.

The Office of Surface Mining and the Department of Environmental Protection were at the scene earlier to check on a complaint that water from an underground pipe was seeping out of a hillside behind homes on the road.

Channel 11 News learned that during an attempt to unclog the pipe, which drains water from an old mine into the Youghiogheny River, the line burst, sending water flooding into the streets and into one home.

Bill Hinerman, who rents the home, said he lost everything in his basement. Hinerman was not home at the time of the incident.

"Someone called me and said I had water coming out of my basement, but it was going in my basement," said Hinerman.

Water was redirected and crews were able to pump the water out. Crews said no other homes were threatened by the water.

DEP officials said there is no threat of any contamination or environmental impact. However, an environmental attorney at the scene told Channel 11 it will take a while to find out the flood's long-term effects.

Neighbor Ed Cherepko said a similar problem with a different pipe in his yard has damaged his home.

"My house is ruined. I can't fix it. The whole house is shifted," Cherepko said.

Cherepko said his problems began seven years ago. He said the DEP has sent him letters about a solution, but so far nothing has been done to resolve the problem.

"I've got four, maybe five letters like this saying they're going to open the mines but nothing has ever happened," said Cherepko.

The road reopened to traffic late Monday night. Crews will continue repairs on Tuesday.

Seattle Homes Flooded

A dozen homeowners in Madison Valley have reached a $2.5 million settlement with the city of Seattle over chronic flooding.

The homeowners had argued in a lawsuit that a city project to control sewage and stormwater runoff in surrounding neighborhoods 40 years ago created more frequent and severe flooding in Madison Valley.

The lawsuit was filed in December 2009, the third anniversary of a torrential rainstorm that flooded more than 30 homes in Madison Valley and resulted in the drowning of a woman in her basement recording studio several blocks away.

The homeowners' attorney said Wednesday the city had been aware of the chronic flooding problems for years but never built the system that would have carried away the increased wastewater.

In agreeing to the settlement, the city did not admit wrongdoing.

The settlement was first reported in The Valley View, a Madison Valley newsletter.

The backed-up sewage contained heavy metals including arsenic and mercury as well as fecal-coliform bacteria the residents were exposed to when they cleaned up after an intense rain, said A. Richard Maloney, attorney for the plaintiffs.

"It was cheaper to flood a working-class neighborhood than to fix the problem," Maloney said.

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) said money ran out from the Forward Thrust bond projects approved four decades ago to separate sewage from stormwater around the city.

At the same time, wastewater became subject to stricter environmental laws.

A plan to pipe stormwater from Madison Valley to Lake Washington was never completed, said Linda DeBoldt, deputy director of SPU.

"There was no conscious decision to create flooding problems," she said.



She said Seattle's sewage and wastewater system is generally designed to handle a 25-year storm event but that more intense storms are occurring more frequently, causing the severe flooding in Madison Valley in 2004 and 2006.

Grace Stewart, 83, a retired nurse who has lived in her home in the 200 block of 31st Avenue East since 1970, said that after the city's sewage and wastewater project on East Capitol Hill started in 1973, the floods in her basement became more severe.

She has a bedroom and a rec-room in the basement where her grandchildren stayed.

Each time the basement flooded — sometimes as often as three times a year — carpets, bedding and paneling were destroyed, Stewart said.

"Every time it flooded, it would drain me of all my money," Stewart said.

Maloney said the city already had paid to replace many of the plaintiffs' personal belongings during previous floods.

In 2008, the city reached a $2.8 million settlement over the drowning of Kate Fleming in her Madison Valley home in December 2006.

Although the death happened within a few blocks of the massive residential flooding, the city said they were unrelated and had different causes.

Since the 2006 storm, the city has spent more than $3 million to enlarge a detention pond at 30th Avenue East and East John Street.

By the end of 2011, SPU expects to spend $27 million more to add six blocks of stormwater pipes and a huge stormwater-storage tank at Washington Park.

Broken Pipe Floods Miami Beach Neighborhood

Crews working to repair a busted underground water pipe that flooded streets in Miami Beach’s La Gorce neighborhood Tuesday night are finding the situation worse than first expected, and that construction headaches could easily continue until Friday.

“According to our engineers it’s the biggest break we’ve had in 17 years,” said Nannette Rodriguez, a city spokeswoman.

The water main erupted in the area of La Gorce Drive and 63rd Street about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, sending a deluge through the area and, according to NBCMiami.com, flooding some homes.

Early Wednesday morning, Rodriguez said crews believed the city and neighbors were lucky that the broken 16-inch water pipe “was a water line and not a water main. If it had been a main, we would have had a loss of service, and probably a lot of damage.”

But by 11 a.m., Rodriguez said engineers found that the pipe that broke was indeed a water main — the principal pipe in a series of pipes through which water flows. And while service wasn’t cut off, Rodriguez said there likely was a good deal of damage.

“They’re saying it blew. And when it blew it damaged other stuff under there,” she said, including a Florida Department of Transportation storm line.

Police are rerouting traffic off of Alton Road and away from the area where the water main blew.

Rodriguez said the cause of the break likely won’t be known until the secion that erupted is analyzed.

"We were able to quickly close shut-off valves last night that prevented the flooding from expanding further," Rodriguez said. "But getting to the right lines and right area down there for repair has gotten a little complicated. So it’s taking longer. We’ve called in a contractor with some heavy equipment to help us speed it up. But we anticipate repairs being underway through Friday."

Garage Fire Results In Total Loss

An early morning West Kelowna garage fire resulted in a 'total loss' to the structure and contents.

At approximately 12:36 a.m. on March 24, West Kelowna Fire Rescue responded to a report of a structure fire in the 3500 block of Paynter Road.

"When the first unit arrived they reported that the detached garage was fully involved with flamesextending through the roof," says West Kelowna Fire Department Assistant Chief Darren Lee.

Residents were home at the time of the fire and reported that no one was in the workshop.

"The initial attack crew was able to protect the exposed home, that had already sustained some damage from radiant heat, and safely knock the fire down from the exterior," says Lee.

The garage and several vehicles are considered to be a total loss.

No injuries were reported.

Fire investigators will be conducting a fire cause and origin investigation later this morning.

Broken Pipe Floods Part of High School

KALISPELL - A frozen pipe caused some flooding at Glacier High School on Saturday afternoon.

A wrestling tournament was taking place when the fire alarm rang which caused everyone to evacuate the school. Fire officials later discovered that a broken pipe on the second floor caused the flooding after it may have froze due to the cold weather.

About 20 people from restoration teams are working to air out walls and cleanup the water and Kalispell School's Superintendent Darlene Schottle say that it will be business as usual on Monday.

"Instruction will be able to go on. The biggest disruption is in the main area of the office and being able to provide that support, but from every indication that we've had, these groups that have gotten together are pretty quick at putting everything back in place."

The school will have an estimated cost of the damages on Monday and five teachers will be moved to different teaching locations.

3/24/11 Lindenhurst Weather Forecast

Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 27. North wind between 9 and 11 mph.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 42. Northwest wind between 8 and 13 mph.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 24. North wind between 8 and 11 mph.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 39. North wind between 9 and 13 mph.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 24. North wind between 8 and 11 mph.

Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 44.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 26.

Monday: Mostly sunny and breezy, with a high near 42.

Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 29.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 47.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 35.

Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 49.

Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 36.

Thursday: A chance of rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 49. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

3/23/11 Lindenhurst Weather Forecast

Tonight: Periods of rain, snow, and sleet before 5am, then periods of snow and sleet, possibly mixed with freezing drizzle. Some thunder is also possible. Low around 31. East wind between 10 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. Total nighttime snow and sleet accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Thursday: Snow likely, possibly mixed with freezing drizzle before 11am, then a chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 45. North wind between 13 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 26. Northwest wind between 10 and 14 mph.

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 42. Northwest wind between 11 and 15 mph.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 25. Northwest wind between 10 and 15 mph.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 41.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 26.

Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 40.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 25.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 42.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 28.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 45.

Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 32.

Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 46.