Bowman Dance Company And School Founder Heather Wrubel Heartbroken After Life's Work Destroyed By Ida
BRIDGEPORT, Pa. (CBS) -- The ongoing cleanup after historic flooding and tornadoes from the remnants of Ida devastated parts of the area. Residents and business owners are throwing out trash and debris vowing to rebuild their lives.
As residents continue the process of cleaning up along the Schuylkill River, the trash is continuing to pile up.
The Schuylkill River is just across the street and when it flooded Wednesday night, homes and businesses on either side went underwater.
The basement and first floor of a dance studio are destroyed and what is left out front is a pile of trash. An all too familiar sight up and down these streets.
"Everything you see today came out of our basement," Heather Wrubel, founder, and CEO of Bowman Dance Company and School said. "12 years of props, sets, costumes, decors."
Covered head to toe in mud, Bridgeport's Bowman Dance Company, and School founder Wrubel spent Sunday clearing out everything that Ida destroyed.
"The water that came into our building has oil and gas in it," Wrubel said. "So, everything has to be trashed."
"All the walls from the chair rail down will have to come out," Wrubel said.
The water crested at more than four feet on the first floor ripping out sinks from their foundation and completely submerging the basement.
"It's my life's work, so it's very heartbreaking," Wrubel said. "It's tough to look at."
People living in Norristown reached out to CBS3 for help after they say trash and debris still haven't been picked up after devastating floods.
Across the Schuylkill River in Norristown, Josh and Rosa Rodriguez walked CBS3 through the Lafayette Street home they rented just one month before.
"Look from here," Rosa said. "It's bad."
The water was chest high on the ground floor and toppled the refrigerator and destroyed anything that was left out.
"Everything's damaged," Rosa said. "The vacuum cleaner is wet. Totally wet. Everything."
Now as the trash continues to pile up outside, they're forced to stay with relatives and hope a truck comes before their regular Wednesday garbage pick-up day.
"And where am I going to put my stuff?" Rosa said. "This little bit."
Despite the massive loss, the community said they will rebuild out of the rubble.
"A lot of things we teach our kids are being displayed in this crisis with persistence and resilience, and how we're going to come back," Wrubel said.
The Red Cross has a shelter set up over the holiday weekend at the Norristown High School for anyone who can't go back to their home.
A GoFundMe Page has been set up to get the Bowman Dance Company And School back on their feet. To donate, click here.
