Floodwaters From Tropical Storm Isaias Submerge Cars, Buildings In Manayunk
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Tropical Storm Isaias may be gone but many people are still waiting for floodwaters to recede in parts of the Philadelphia region. The storm left some lasting impacts, including some serious flooding in Manayunk.
Early Wednesday morning, the water was slowly receding but several cars were still submerged, many of them parked cars that were not moved in time.
Tuesday's torrential rain and flooding forced the closure of many roads in the area, including Main Street. The Apex apartments on Flat Rock Road were also evacuated.
Upstream in Norristown, the Schuylkill crested at 20.55 feet and downstream near Boathouse Row it crested at 13.28 feet.
Manayunk is located right on the river and neighbors there have seen flooding before, but not to this extent for some time.
City officials had warned that flooding could get worse even after Isaias moved out of our immediate area.
Eyewitness News spoke to a resident who came out to Main Street to check out the flooding. He says he's seen more people out looking at the floodwater than he's seen because of the coronavirus shutdown.
"I thought it would be higher because I heard it was going to crest overnight. So, we were down here last night about 9 o'clock and it looked like it was going to start coming up the street but it's actually down so it's kinda nice," resident Cade Remsburg said. "In a weird sort of way, the most community I've felt in a while because people are coming out to look at this rather than being scared to come outside."
Chris Meyers, who family ownsPizzeria L'Angolo at the corner of Shurs Lane and Main Street, only had to remove debris from the sidewalk.
"We're all here still. Things can be cleaned and we move on with our day," Meyers said.
The pizzeria like many shops there were prepared to keep the floodwater out.
"A little bit of dirt, little of cleanup, but we're done after that," he said.
Longtime neighbors say when you work and live on the river this is the risk you take.
"I mean, 96, 2004, 2007. They call it a 100-year flood, but it's really a three or four-year flood. There are more and more of them. And they're talking about developing Upper Venice Island, and it's underwater," resident Elliot Duhan said.
A marine unit remains on standby in the area in case neighbors or drivers need help.
