LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — As rain moves in, emergency officials in Luzerne County's Back Mountain hope to avoid flooding in some problem areas.
In 2015, the municipalities that make up the Back Mountain area started a regionalized response center to join resources in case of a disaster.
"All the typical unfortunate flooding areas we've had in the last several incidents and roadway washouts, we want to keep an eye on those. A lot of the damage has only had temporary repairs to it, so we have to keep an eye on that because permanent repairs haven't been made yet," said Dallas Township EMA Director Alan Pugh.
Pugh says the municipalities in the Back Mountain don't have the financial resources to do so alone.
"There's a lot of funding requests in. The September 9 storm produced over $25 million in damage assessment for municipalities and nonprofits in our three-county area. And no funding has been approved yet, so everything out there is mostly temporary fixes."
Along Dallas Township's border with Kingston Township, DPW crews are reinforcing a creek wall, doing their best with the current resources.
Kingston Township officials tell Newswatch 16 that part of Toby Creek is under review for a more permanent fix, but they're trying to bring in stones to reinforce a wall as a temporary fix during this rain event.
"It's no different than anywhere that we had washed out, so we have the effective repairs to keep that operation working and limit future damage to it while we get to the end result," Pugh said.
Emergency officials hope these fixes hold up in case other emergencies need their attention.
"We do have a fair amount of resources, so if someone needs assistance, please don't hesitate to call 911 if you have an emergency, if you need assistance and we'll be here. Typically, if this storm does get as bad as potentially forecasted, we will stand up our operation centers also in the Back Mountain to help keep pressure off the emergency centers," Pugh added.