Water Damage in Silver Creek New York

From Observer

SILVER CREEK – A torrent of water tore through Silver Creek early Monday morning destroying homes and cars and causing extensive damage to the Silver Creek Fire Department.

Fortunately, in the end, the waters of Silver Creek and Walnut Creek receded and no one was injured, although two volunteer fire fighters came close.

A Silver Creek firefighter directing traffic in front of the devastated Silver Village mobile home park on Central Avenue said two Sheridan volunteers were almost swept under the water by the current of Silver Creek as it rose over its banks and into the mobile home park.

Pointing to a stop sign at the mobile home’s park entrance, the firefighter said that was where the incident took place.

“They worked together to save themselves,” he said.

The Silver Creek firefighters, together with the Chautauqua County Fire Police and Response Team members, began knocking on the doors of the 35 units in the park around 12:30 a.m. Monday to alert the residents of the imminent danger the rising water posed.

One individual watching the receded water flow under the bridge near the mobile home park Monday afternoon said she had heard the water rose approximately two feet every 10 minutes.

Jim Newbauer, the park’s maintenance manager, said he’s not sure if any of the mobile homes survived the flood.

“There’s a lot of mud and water damage throughout the park,” he said, indicating his home was also one of those affected.

Silver Village Park resident John Nordblum said he was working Monday morning until 4:30 a.m. and came home to learn his home was flooded.

“We had flooding in the store where I work and we spent a lot of time cleaning up, then, when I get home, I’m told I can’t get to my house because of more flooding,” he said.

Asked what his plans are now, he said, “I’m just waiting to see what happens next.”

He then asked Nordblum if any cats had been rescued.

Nordblum said he didn’t know of any.

Third assistant chief Jeff Griewisch said the Silver Creek Fire Department suffered considerable damage when Walnut Creek came roaring through the fire hall.

He said the water reached three feet high on the walls and washed 30 sets of turnout gear out of the hall through the overhead doors than now hang askew.

“Fortunately, our trucks were out on a call, but we lost hoses and tools, along with a lot of other stuff,” Griewisch said.

Others weren’t so fortunate.

In addition to home loses, several people lost their vehicles.

One was sitting in the Walnut Creek bed and another was parked in front of the fire hall with debris hanging from its front bumper. In addition, three police vehicles were allegedly lost in the flood, according to Trustee Anna Frederickson – two Ford Crown Victorias and a Dodge Charger.

The village hall parking lot was also severely damaged in the flooding, as well as a number of other streets throughout the village.

Right now, Griewisch said, he doesn’t think anyone knows which way to turn.

But, he added, “We’re tough and we’ll all work together to do what’s right.”

Ken and Donna Lashua of Central Avenue hold similar thoughts.

As they watched brother-in-law Ron Miller use a bulldozer to level off gravel that ended up in their yard, they said they were rescued by village employees.

“They used a high lift to carry us from our home to safety,” Donna said.

She added, “I was very glad to be saved, it was scary.”

The water from Walnut Creek gushed through their home, rising to the ceiling floor boards in the cellar.

“I’m just glad no one got hurt; we’ll recover by helping one another,” Donna said.

That help was evident as friends of Donna and Ken said they would help with the cleaning that faced the couple.

Help also came in the form of various volunteer fire departments across the county showing up to pump out various buildings and hose down streets to remove mud and gravel.

One of these buildings was the Petri Cookie company’s offices.

Standing outside the office in front of a pile of wet papers, Anthony Habib said he was more concerned about the mobile home park residents.

“They lost their homes, we just had a little bit of office damage and we’ll be fine,” he said.

The American Red Cross provided shelter for 29 displaced Silver Creek residents at the Silver Creek High School.