You can watch this episode on the PA Live! site:
| http://pahomepage.com/palive-details/?nxd_id=231512 |
A few weeks ago Monica Madeja, co-host of PA Live!, told me that they were planning a special week of shows looking back on the Flood of 2011, its aftermath, and recovery. She asked if we could showcase a blog that specifically talked about this - maybe something set in the West Pittston area that focused on coming back from the flood?
Well, I tried. But finding a specific blog on a specific topic in a specific region can be tricky, to say the least. What I did find were several bloggers whose posts have touched upon the topic, and we're going to look at them. We're also going to look at how blogs capture "the history of now" by looking back at blog posts from the days leading up to the flood, the flood itself, and the weeks following the flood.
There were lots of NEPA bloggers looking at the flood as it happened. We already linked to dozens of their posts in these two posts:
NEPA Blogosphere Flood of 2011 wrap-up, Part 1
NEPA Blogosphere Flood of 2011 wrap-up, Part 2
And the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania mobilized to help! Co-administrator Michelle captured all the different ways people could help (and be helped!) here:
Giving Help
The flood happened back in September, but six months later recovery isn't done yet. Not by a long shot! Veteran newsman David DeCosmo (whose blog, "No News Is...Good News?" was a recent Blog of the Week) went for a walk in West Pittston a few weeks ago and saw cleanup crews along the river, debris piled in front of flood-damaged houses, and a popular (and currently useless) recreational vehicle being sold for some ready cash!
No News Is...Good News?: Cleanup, Clutter, & Classic
Dave also recently paid a visit to a coffee shop in West Pittston that has finally come back after being wiped out by the flood!
No News Is...Good News?: Good To The Last Drop!
Michelle Hryvnak Davies, co-administrator of NEPA Blogs, was without power for nearly a week following Hurricane Irene's visit to the area in late August. A few days after getting her power restored she, like many of us, watched in horror communities along the Susquehanna were devastated by the flood. In the days following the flood she shared some "during" and "after" pictures - and the story of the best, most humbling $60 she ever spent:
mhryvnak.net: Humble Pie
Later Michelle had some extremely useful advice for surviving the next natural disaster - lessons learned from the earthquake that was followed by the winds of Tropical Storm Irene that was followed by the flooding caused by the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee. By the end of October, Michelle was growing aggravated with the general state of our region's infrastructure - including a gaping hole in Route 29 that was still just being marked off with traffic cones seven weeks after the flood. (It was finally filled in three weeks later - ten weeks after the flood!)
Rachel Troychock (of the Blog of the Week "Rachel of All Trades"), thankful to have been spared damage from the flood, dove head-first into volunteering efforts to help those who weren't so lucky.
Rachel of all trades: afraid of the rain
A month after the flood, the Bloomsburg Daily posted an interview with her about the Children's Flood Relief Center she and her husband ran at the Moose Exchange on behalf of the AGAPE social mission.
Rachel of all trades: Donation Center Interview
Dale Wisley gave us a view of the flood in Tunkhannock in three parts:
Manic Frustration: '72 Déjà vu : September flooding in Tunkhannock Part 1
Manic Frustration: '72 Déjà vu : September flooding in Tunkhannock Part 2
Manic Frustration: '72 Déjà vu : September flooding in Tunkhannock Part 3
The Dietrich Theater in Tunkhannock sustained heavy damage, and, as explained in the post where Manic Frustration was named Blog of the Week, Dale exhibited and sold his photographs in early October a benefit for the theater at the Scranton Cultural Center.
Dillon Naylor and Old Tioga Farm managed to escape the flood, but in October she wrote about its impact on neighbors and the folks in nearby Shickshinny.
la cascina, the journal of Old Tioga Farm: Flooded
Journalist Andy Palumbo took a look at debris along the river this past weekend.
Andy Palumbo: Bad Photography Sunday: The Debris
And that's just a sampling. Those are just some of the bloggers in Northeastern Pennsylvania who have been hard at work creating "the history of now," documenting the Flood of 2011, its aftermath, and the recovery. If you know of any that we missed, please let us know. We want to add them!
If you have a blog you would like us to link on NEPA Blogs, or know of a blog you think we should link, please let us know! You can always drop us a line at nepablogs@gmail.com!
All are invited to meet the bloggers of Northeastern Pennsylvania at the Spring 2012 Blog Fest on March 30, 2012 at Rooney's Irish Pub in Pittston! Stay tuned for more details!
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