Cleaning Up Clearfield

Pattie and I rolled into Woodland Family Campground on Sunday afternoon, parked The Bus, put on our disaster recovery shirts, and headed to the volunteer fire department in Clearfield, PA.  Here we met Kenton Hunt, the Pennsylvania Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) Director.  Kenton and a few volunteers had set-up a shower unit and were taking inventory and stocking the recovery unit trailer.  We jumped right in and got everything loaded up.  About 9 pm, we were finished and the five of us went for a late super at a local truck stop to get to know each other and discuss the mission ahead.

The previous week, a SBDR member and HAM radio operator in Colorado had been monitoring a emergency management frequency when he heard chatter about extreme rainfall in Pennsylvania. The town of Clearfield was mentioned more and more and it was apparent that something bad was happening there and it was happening very fast.  He called Kenton and told him something big had happened in Clearfield.  Kenton contacted two Blue Hat (experienced in assessments and team management) SBDR members and asked them to go check on Clearfield.  What they found was Clearfield, PA had experienced an unusual weather pattern that dumped over 5 inches of rain in less than 4 hours.  Areas that you would never believe could flood had water rise several feet as the drainage system became overwhelmed.  Just as quickly as the water came; it drained away leaving behind devastating destruction. 

Monday morning, we arrived early at the fire department where local Salvation Army volunteers prepared us meals each day and volunteers slept (Pattie and I are blessed to have The Bus and our own bed!).  After breakfast and devotional time, we headed to our first home and met the single elderly lady who had her basement and first floor flooded.  She said the water came in so fast; she barely had time to get to her stairs and call 911 from the second floor.  Pattie worked with teammates on the first floor while Chad and I went to the basement. 

The unlit basement had about 6 inches of mud covering the floor.  The heating oil tank had floated up and down smashing the ductwork and the furnace was full of silt and ruined.  We set up emergency lighting and got a sump pump running to pull water out.  A bucket brigade was set up to haul out the mud we shoveled.  Then we cut out all the duct work and the furnace to remove them.  Chad put on protective gear and I pushed him through the muddy crawl space to pull out the wet insulation.  When we immerged, we were exhausted and covered in mud.

The team on the first floor cut walls and pulled out wet insulation.  They had to gut the kitchen and utility room.  We had to pressure wash everything and then treat it for mold.  This pattern repeated itself all week with some houses requiring this level of work and others just being treated for mold as the owners worked to clean up their property.

By the next Sunday night, SBDR volunteers supported by the Salvation Army had responded to over 80 homes.  There is no Southern Baptist Church in Clearfield, PA, so on the following Sunday, we each found a different church to worship.  After church, we serviced two more homes then cleaned and packed away our equipment while Kenton trained local Methodist Church leaders and volunteers so they can take over when we depart. 

Sunday night, the few volunteers remaining celebrated with dinner out and said our goodbyes.  We will stay at Woodland Family Campground a couple days to recover and clean our equipment before heading to Bradford, PA for the Jeep Jamboree. 

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Detroit, But No Further

Local Visitor Pontiac Lake

We departed Niagara Falls, NY with a couple weeks to fill before the Penn Woods Jeep Jamboree in Bradford, PA.  Our thought was to swing through Michigan, up and over the Upper Peninsula, and back down through Wisconsin to fill the time.  We had no idea that a small town in Pennsylvania was experiencing flash floods and we would be called to help.

We located a nice stopping point at Camp Perry, Ohio on our way to Michigan.  They have a military campground there and I have always wanted to visit Camp Perry the home of competition rifle shooting.  The campground was empty, as the rifle matches do not start until July.  They have very nice accommodations there, but are significantly higher priced than most military campgrounds.  We stayed a couple days so I could look over the training facilities and the rifle ranges that go out to 1,000 yards.  That will separate the folks who think they can shoot from those that really can shoot!

Next, we targeted (pun intended) Pontiac Lake State Recreation Area north of Detroit to spend several days.  Our goal here was to drive down and visit the Ford factory in Dearborn from this location.  The campground only has 30 amp electric, so we went into conservation mode once again.  Other than that, it is a nice park.  

I read on-line that The Henry Ford is a large complex with much more than an automobile factory.  They have Greenfield Village that provides a walk back in America’s past with live demonstrations by artisans showing how things were made and the inventions that helped make them.  Then there is The Henry Ford museum that encompasses almost every aspect of innovation, invention and creative ways to solve issues throughout our history.  

I thought it would be heavily slated toward Ford, but found it to be the best collection of innovative ideas from all cultural aspects.  It was so impressive, we had to come back a second day to see it all.  

The Montgomery, AL bus that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat

Americana…I had a root-beer float!

Hand Turned Rifling Lathe

Early American RVs

We did take the Ford Rogue Factory tour and learned how Henry Ford developed the area from his first automobile to the state of the art facility it is today.  We saw the workers building Ford F-150 trucks where they produce 800 every 10 hours and run two 10-hour shifts per day.  It was fascinating to watch.

During our stay here, we received an email seeking volunteers from the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief coordinator asking for volunteers to help flash flood victims in Clearfield, PA.  Pattie and I prayed about it and felt God calling us to serve.  So, we changed plans and are preparing to depart for Clearfield.  There is a lot more in Michigan to see than we could have seen in a week.  We will schedule more time for this state during a future trip.

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Niagara Falls

We escaped the maze of 10 Ton Load Limit signs in Pennsylvania and made our way north through Buffalo, NY to Four Mile Creek State Park about 10 miles north of Niagara Falls.  We plotted our course very carefully, but did not expect the Robert Moses Parkway pavement to be in such poor repair. The bus is not very good at dodging potholes and we bounced along quite a bit.  When I say in poor repair, I mean grass is growing between the concrete expansion joints and potholes exceed 3 inches in depth.  We were so concerned that we did a little research and found that the Robert Moses Parkway is about to be removed and turned into green space along the river.  That explains it. We planned a different route to take when we depart.

 

Niagara Falls has awed man since the first eyes looked upon it.  Today, we have beautiful parks on both the US and Canadian banks from which to view it as well as boat rides, tunnel tours, helicopter rides, and high-rise buildings to view it.  Each angle is a different view.  We found ourselves taking more pictures here than anywhere we have been.  This is a sure sign it is one of those places that you want to capture on film, but can’t.  You must see and experience the falls to understand the magnitude. 

Once again the RV lifestyle makes our visit special.  We are not rushed to see everything in a day or two.  We spent a day on the US side then came back for another half day to hike around Goat Island for some different views.  Another day, we spent on the Canadian side taking the Behind the Falls Tour through tunnels.   I wasn’t impressed by the behind the falls tour.  The tunnel goes behind the falls and you have an opening to look out at the backside of the falls.  There is so much water coming down; you cannot see anything. I didn’t even take a picture.

The best tour was the Maid of the Mist boat ride.  You ride a two level boat right up to the edge of the falls and sit there while the engines roar to keep the boat in place.  You get a bit wet, but it is so worth it to feel the power of the water crashing down. 

We had several days to explore the area and took our bikes for a ride around Fort Niagara, which is worth a visit to learn of the history of the area and its strategic importance in our nation’s history.

On another day, we went back to Canada for a south to north bike ride along the gorge bike trails.  The Canadian bike trails are excellent with several wineries along the route to the Niagara on the Lake Township.

With the week completed, we look forward to heading west to Ohio and the upper Michigan peninsula just to see what’s there.

Thanks for keepingupwiththejonesrv!

Here is a map of our journey in April and May 2016 for those curious about how far we have traveled.