Floods
I saw on Facebook memories from seven years ago photographs of the Connellsville area that was hit by flooding. The deluge filled the streams until they overflowed their banks. It flowed into many basements, pushed homes from their foundations, and washed out bridges and destroyed roadways. Cars and trucks were pushed into the water and washed downstream. Trees and the soil banks were uprooted and dislodged.
It reminded me of another deluge that happened in our area. The rain came in torrents, so thick I often couldn’t see to drive. Route 30 near Greensburg had deep, long pools that covered the pavement allowing only one lane of traffic in many areas. I tried to leave the animal shelter in Derry with a newly spayed cat, and ended up being detoured several times. One road I was on the water ran like a river pushing boulders about the size of soccer balls. It took me nearly two and a half hours to make a normally forty-five minute trip home. I was worried about the trip for the cat in a carrier on the front seat.
Now for a way back moment. There was a flood in Melcroft, Pennsylvania. Melcroft was another coal patch town in western Pennsylvania. The clapboard houses were located near the mines and near a stream of water.  My Aunt Estella Strawderman, her husband Melvin, and their daughter Shirley lived in one of the rental houses. The stream evolved into a raging flood during another storm. It came quickly. There was no warning. There weren’t the television and radio alerts and the house was swept away with Estella and Shirley inside. They were washed downstream. Aunt Estella managed to hold on to Shirley while being tossed to and fro in the maelstrom. Aunt Estella was tossed into a tree that stood steadfast against the powerful current. A person heard her cry and with help, men were able to rescue her and Shirley.
Another devastating flood in our area was the Johnstown Flood. In the hills above Johnstown was a hunting and fishing club for wealthy patrons. A large earthen dam created a lake for fishing and boating. The dam wasn’t strong enough to handle the water when the clouds split open and dumped a huge amount of rain into the hills surrounding the lake. The weakened dam burst and destroyed every building but one downstream in Johnstown. The horror and the trauma caused those who survived them to move in with relatives and not to return to Johnstown.