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Flooded basements, ripped up roads in Lackawanna County

Heavy rain on Tuesday left behind damage all across our area.

DICKSON CITY, Pa. — A lot of people across Lackawanna County are dealing with big messes on Wednesday.

One of the biggest messes is on Dundaff Street in Dickson City. A creek running under the street is now shooting out from underneath.

"It was loud, almost like a big heavy motor running, and it's just nonstop. All these rocks started flowing, and it's getting worse as we speak," James Mitchell said.

Neighbors would have liked for the rain to stop Wednesday, but they weren't so lucky. They say this has only happened once before.

Al Kasperowski has lived on Dundaff Street in Dickson City for 60 years. He's only seen it like this one other time during Hurricane Agnes in 1972. This time, he sat outside on his porch all night, hoping the geyser-like water coming out the street didn't creep into his home.

"It was scary; it was real scary. It was shooting way up, almost to the stop sign there. It was like, taller than us. Look at the boulders, look at the size of the boulders coming out of there. All of this came out of that one hole," Kasperowski said.

The street crumbled when a creek running through a culvert underneath broke open Tuesday night.

The water brought with it lots of debris that did a number to the surface of the street, but the neighbors tried to use it to their advantage. A Bobcat scooped it up and built walls with it.

"He's a neighbor who is actually building walls here to help people's basements, so hopefully we don't have too much damage," Mitchell said.

Some neighbors did see flooded basements, lost power or heat, and many were stranded.

Francis Ghilardi, who owns Carmalt Restaurant, worried about what this would mean for his business.

"We're just about at a year after reopening after lockdown. We've pivoted here to all curbside pick-ups of takeout orders, and our curbside just floated away," said Ghilardi.

Many others along the Lackawanna River also dealt with damage. Volunteer firefighters helped pump almost a foot of water out of St. James and St. George Church in Jermyn.

The Worlinsky family from Jessup escaped their flooded home to get a look at what the rain did to Aylesworth Dam The park in Jermyn lost its beach under all the water.

Walter Shemchak wanted to check it out, too. He was here only a few days ago.

"Me and my son went fishing, caught a couple trout. The water level was normal. Just shows you what the rain can do," Shemchak said.

The heavy rain is also causing flash flooding on area roads, according to PennDOT. The latest closure information is posted on the 511PA.com site.

For the latest traffic conditions, click here.

Head here for the latest weather forecast.

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