Storm damages Luzerne County-owned infrastructure

Flooding from intense rain storms Sunday and Monday blew out a Luzerne County-owned bridge, prompted the evacuation of approximately 30 people at a faith-based camp in Fairmount Township and caused dangerous water pooling on area roadways, officials said.

No injuries were reported, said Charles Krommes, the county’s emergency management operations and training officer.

Bridges

The county-owned Kyttle Pike Road Bridge in Ross Township was “washed away,” said county Grant Writer Michele Sparich, who has been temporarily overseeing the operational services division.

Barriers are in place, Sparich said.

A county bridge on Huntington Creek Road in Fairmount Township also was temporarily closed for storm-related repairs, she said.

Motorists should use alternate routes until repairs are completed, she said.

The stone arch Kyttle Pike Road Bridge was approximately 12 feet long and crossed the Lick Branch Creek, said county Operational Services Project Management Director Nick Vough.

Ross Township owns the gravel roadway containing the county-owned span, and township officials reported the bridge was gone Monday morning, said Vough, who visited the site around 9 a.m. with a representative of the county’s outside engineer, Reilly Associates.

Rising creek waters “blew it out completely,” Vough said.

This area is sparsely populated, and no structures will be cut off because there are other outlets, he said.

The county will need time to assess a potential replacement, including whether disaster relief funding will be available to help pay for it, county officials said.

While Vough was at the Kyttle Pike site, a passing Fairmount Township worker asked him to visit the county bridge on Huntington Creek Road a little over a mile away, he said.

Vough said the county closed this crossing for safety reasons Monday due to additional rain in the forecast, but he expects it can be repaired if there is no further damage.

Campground

Emergency crews used boats to evacuate occupants of the Patterson Grove Campground in Fairmount Township Monday morning because the complex was surrounded by water, Krommes said.

Located about five miles south of Ricketts Glen State Park, the Christian campground contains cottages and is located on the banks of Kitchen Creek near the junction with Huntington Creek.

“Thankfully nobody was injured,” said Carrie Rampp, chair of the camp’s board. “While there is a lot of mud and muck and mess to clean up and work needed on the road, there was no major structural damage to any buildings.”

Campers of all ages were evacuated, including some elderly people, she said.

Rampp said the focus was on “safety and getting people off the grounds.” Early Monday evening she was waiting for the weather to ease up to get the camp’s water system back on line.

“Thankfully all the cottages are up on piers and stones,” Rampp said, noting that most of these more than 100 seasonal structures are at least a century old. “We haven’t had a flood like this in 20 years.”

The open-air tabernacle, which is a pavilion, was caked with mud Monday, she said.

She expects the place will be buzzing with volunteers to clean up for the 157th “camp meeting” that is a week away — an event that typically draws hundreds.

Other incidents

Two cars were trapped in flooded roadways Monday — one in Kingston and the other in Pringle, Krommes said. The occupants of both were safely removed.

Emergency crews were dispatched to reports of flooded roadways and debris in several locations, including Harveys Lake, Route 118 in the Back Mountain and parts of Route 11, Krommes said.