Gov. Wolf Schedules Friday Visit To Connellsville To Survey Flood Damage
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf will visit the flood-stricken Connellsville area in Fayette County on Friday afternoon to survey flood damage.
Connellsville Mayor Greg Lincoln said Thursday night that his message to the governor will be "if he can help us in any way, any assistance, we'll take any help we can get."
Lincoln told KDKA-TV's Ralph Iannotti that about 40 homes in Connellsville sustained various degrees of damage from the Sunday night heavy rains and flooding that followed.
At least 14 homes in the city will likely face demolition, because the damage was so severe.
As many as 100 more homes were damaged in adjacent Bullskin Township.
Lincoln said, for the most part, the people affected most severely by the flooding "don't want to go."
"They want to stay here, and we want them to stay," the mayor said.
A four-block area in Connellsville took the brunt of Mother Nature's fury, mostly when water overflowed its banks from a nearby creek.
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Connellsville City Councilman Tom Karpiak, who heads up the city Public Works Department, said he hasn't seen any signs of people losing hope because of the flood-related destruction.
He says some people may be down, but they're not out.
Karpiak said, "Connellsville has always been a resilient community. We come from coke ovens and coal miners, and we haven't lost that DNA."
