Aliquippa mired in muddy mess
By Rick Wills
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Brenda Lee needs her Aliquippa beauty shop to reopen Monday.
"It's my only source of income," Lee said Friday as she and a half-dozen relatives tried to remove several inches of mud and water from Miajah on Franklin Avenue, the town's main street.
The story was much the same up and down this Beaver County community's business district, where a deluge of about 4 inches of rain flooded streets Thursday and left muddy destruction in its wake.
"We just hate to do this now. It's time for summer reading programs," said Mary Elizabeth Columbo, executive director of B.F. Jones Memorial Library, as she and other employees threw away hundreds of books.
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The flooding destroyed about 10,000 books -- one-10th of the Italian Renaissance-style library's collection -- and damaged the children's room in the basement, which was renovated last year at a cost of $750,000.
"We have to get anything with mold out of here. Mold is a really big issue with libraries," said Rebecca Long, district director of the library.
Residents and merchants said they still are stunned by the sudden downpour.
"When you see water that's moving cars, now that's something," said Emanuel Panos, owner of Hoffman's Drug Store on Franklin Avenue.
The business district's main drag remained partially closed yesterday, while PennDOT and municipal crews shoveled mud and swept dirt.
The rush of water swept through Stevie's Dari Mart, a market and general store just off of Franklin Avenue. Several customers were forced to swim out the back door to higher ground.
"It all happened so fast, and there was no other way to get out of here except by swimming," said Bill Zuccaro, who owns the store and hopes to reopen in about a month.
While cleaning his water-logged shop with the assistance of siblings and parents yesterday, Zuccaro said he was not impressed with relief efforts.
"I had one truck from Ambridge come by offering help with the water," he said.
U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, said he fears clean-up expenses and loss of inventory could prompt some store owners in the economically distressed area to simply close up shop.
"This may be the last straw for some of the store owners, who have had lots of problems before this," said Altmire, whose district includes Aliquippa.
Like Altmire, Councilman William Alston said he would like the state to declare the business district a disaster area.
"People are trying their best, but help might be needed," said Alston, former police chief, adding that some flood damage still might not be obvious.
Many residents said their basements are flooded.
"I hope I don't need a new furnace. That would be a lot of money," Luverda Parker said as she removed mud from her Orchard Street driveway.
A disaster declaration is unlikely, said Chuck Ardo, a spokesman for Gov. Ed Rendell, who said the damaged area is small and already appears to be on its way to recovery.
Rick Wills can be reached at rwills@tribweb.com or (724) 779-7123.
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