Pa. Residents May Return Home Today

Swelling Rivers Forced 200,000 to Seek Higher Ground

WILKES-BARRE, Pa., June 28 -- Nearly 200,000 people in Pennsylvania were forced to evacuate their homes Wednesday, after officials worried that levees holding back the Susquehanna River here could fail because of sustained floodwater pressure and torrential rain.

Officials said residents will be allowed back to their homes at noon EDT today. The water level reached 34.4 feet high at about 8 p.m. EDT last night, according to Luzerne County officials.

"We really dodged a bullet," said Kathy Bozinski, a Luzerne County spokeswoman. "They told us it was going to be a prolonged crest and that obviously didn't happen. We didn't want people in their houses with a 40-foot wall of water behind that earthen bank."

The evacuation triggered memories of past disasters -- Hurricane Katrina, certainly, but also Hurricane Agnes, which killed about 50 people and caused $2 billion worth of damage to this region in 1972.

There were reports across the Northeast yesterday of flooding, evacuations, deaths and dramatic rescues as the storm that pummeled the Washington area over the past several days took its fury north. Floodwaters tore open a chasm in Interstate 88 in New York, and two truckers were killed when they drove into it. Four people died in Pennsylvania.

"This event did not come without loss," said Greg Skrepenak, a Luzerne County commissioner.

Chocolate-colored water coursed around a wooded bend in the borough of Forty Fort. The Susquehanna, which had reached 34 feet, carried trees and branches, but to Max Giza everything was working as planned. "I worked on it, and it looks solid," the retired construction worker said. "I don't see any sponging," meaning the concrete wasn't collapsing. Giza, 57, was there when construction workers dropped metal panels girded with rebar and poured concrete to secure the levee.

Giza took one last look at the river before police booted him off the levee. Cars raced down River Street as residents fled. Giza noted that even "rabbits are all over the place. They're bailing."

Luzerne County officials gave Wilkes-Barre area residents until 8 p.m. to evacuate, after watching the Susquehanna rise to the highest level that levees have ever held back.

"We don't mess around here," said Bozinski. "We would rather have people get a good drill event than be sorry later on."

The Susquehanna levees stand at 41 feet, she said. Officials said yesterday they expected the waters to crest between 35 and 37 feet. "We have been told that crest could persist for up to 48 hours, and that is a lot of water and a lot of pressure in the levees," Bozinski said. "After a prolonged time, there is always a window of opportunity for a problem."

The Red Cross set up 10 evacuation centers in the area, but most residents are expected to find shelter with friends and family.