NEPA Blogosphere Flood of 2011 wrap-up, Part 1

Well, around this time I figured we'd be finishing off our summary of what bloggers in Northeastern Pennsylvania had to say about Hurricane Irene. I mean, a hurricane hard on the heels of an earthquake that affected much of the northeastern U.S. - people would have a lot to say about that, right? It's not like we should expect another natural disaster with regional effects anytime soon, right?

The storm that hit this week didn't even have a name. Technically this was the remnant of Hurricane Lee, but that name isn't being bandied about like Agnes was back in 1972 (or even like Eloise was a few years later.) This storm was totally different from Agnes. Agnes was a major tropical storm whose outer bands dumped heavy rain onto NEPA, but whose major mechanism of destruction was parking itself over the headwaters of the Susquehanna in upstate New York after having made landfall through New York City. This storm did the headwaters trick as well, but first ran through the area in a track that ran vertically from the Washington/Baltimore area straight up the right-of-center of Pennsylvania, dumping inches and inches of water onto the region before swelling the Susquehanna to levels not seen since Agnes.

Destruction and damage in NEPA is enormous. The full extent will not be comprehensible until the floodwaters recede. One region that fared better than in 1972 is the Wilkes-Barre / Kingston / Forty-Fort region, which sustained massive damage when sandbag levees were breached and the river blew through and expanded across the valley. Now that region is protected by 41-foot levees (with, it turns out, three foot bonus walls at the top). Unfortunately, protective levees in one area mean a bottleneck for water trying to flow downstream. So places like West Pittston are experiencing levels of flooding much worse than they did in 1972.

Anyway. Here's what bloggers throughout the region have been saying at the outset of this flood:

The Susquehanna River Sentinel has had quite a bit to say:
- Susquehanna River Blessing CANCELLED DUE TO UNSAFE RIVER LEVELS (Monday, Sept. 5; updated)
- Susquehanna River: Same Old, Same Old (Wednesday, Sept. 7)
- Another Agnes? (Thursday, Sept. 8)
- Susquehanna Flooding: How many more? (Friday, September 9)
- Toxic Tommy: Tell Us the TRUTH! (Friday, September 9) - Warnings about toxic chemicals that have spilled into the flooded Susquehanna. Stay away from the water, and don't breathe the dust after the water goes down!

David DeCosmo of No News Is...Good News? talks about fleeing the flooding in Hershey in "The Hershey Curse!" and going from bad to worse in Deja Vu! All over again?

Larry Hohol had to cancel promotional appearances at the Luzerne County Fair and the Wilkes-Barre Barnes & Noble due to the weather.

Lorina of Is THIS Bliss?! gives credit where credit is due in Praise the Engineers!

James Rising looks at what the storm looked like in email and through Facebook photos and their comments.

Ricochet's Rapid Detail provides some information that some people who got very, very lucky may find useful in the next week or so: How to properly clean carpets. (Not directly flood related, but helpful when it comes to post-flood cleanup for those who aren't gutting their houses or simply tearing them down.)

The Valley Scanner gives some basic information and a video.

The LuLac Political Letter looks at the currently-popular trend of anti-government attitudes as people are turning to the government for help.

Mike Burnside looks at the flooding with a photographer's eye in Hi, Water.

Andy Palumbo looks at the Water Street Bridge in Pittston on Thursday morning in The Unthinkable.

Stephen Albert at Not Cease From Exploration fires off a brief missive in Thoughts, Hopes & Prayers.

Gort at Gort42 surveys the situation in Wyoming Valley Flood 2011.

The folks at We are: clamco offer some Thursday thoughts in Noah, I want you to build an ark! and Earthquakes, hurricanes, droughts, fires, floods...

Mark Cour of Circumlocution for Dummies gives a "before" picture in Watching, waiting, and praying and an "after" (well, during) picture in Still crossing the fingers.

Nicole of Here and Now...and Then shares a personal moment with her children - and the experience of nine inches of rain in twenty-four hours in When it rains.

The SPCA of Luzerne County had a pre-flood message on their blog.

There will be more.