Flooding Prompts Evacuation Of Avalon Apartment Building
AVALON (KDKA) - There were dozens of reports of flash floods around the area as severe storms moved through the area overnight.
An apartment building in Avalon had to be evacuated not only because of flooding, but also a plumbing problem.
Tennant Lisa Dicks said she knew her apartment building had problems in the plumbing.
"The water lines were rumbling for two weeks," Dicks said.
Around 3 a.m., that problem came spilling out into the Home Avenue Apartments.
"We actually had six feet of water both in the elevator shaft and the basement of the building. It was a lot of water," Borough Manager Harry Dilmore said.
On top of that, several inches of rain overwhelmed the system.
But, that wasn't the end of the problems.
"There was a carbon monoxide [gas] leak," Dicks said.
"They had some readings in the building and they wanted to make sure everything was safe before we started letting people back in," Dilmore said. "We evacuated maybe 30 [people] over to the [Avalon Public Library.]".
The sump pumps in the basement failed in addition to the drain being clogged.
Tenants' belongings in storage took on a good bit of water. Brown soaked cardboard boxes showed the high watermark of mishap. It's not clear of renters insurance, or the landlord's policy will pick up the tab for the wet mess.
By 7 a.m., everybody was back in their units.
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