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. 

Thanks for keepingupwiththejonesrv!