NEWS

As dam hit capacity, residents near Johnstown, Pa., were told to flee flood zone

Bruce Siwy
The Daily American

WILMORE — Kurt Dell, a 55-year-old lifelong resident of Wilmore, was worried even before the firefighters arrived.

"I have a stream right behind my house," he said. "And I never, ever saw it that high in my life. We were very concerned."

Dell was among the 3,000 people who were asked to evacuate their Cambria County homes Wednesday because the Wilmore Dam on the north branch of the Little Conemaugh River had reached its capacity and water was flowing over the spillway.

It was a situation that created understandable anxiety in and around the City of Johnstown, colloquially known as Flood City because of its 1889, 1936 and 1977 disasters.

More:How is Ida impacting Somerset County? Evacuation discussed in at least one area.

In Sidman, approximately three miles from the Johnstown Flood National Memorial, dozens of Cambria County residents sheltered with flooding fears of their own.

Cambria County Emergency Management Agency public safety specialist James Boring said that residents from sections of Wilmore, Summerhill, South Fork, Ehrenfeld and East Taylor Township were told to leave their homes because of concern about the Wilmore Dam. Rainfall from Tropical Depression Ida had pushed the dam's spillway to capacity midday Wednesday.

"We did some downstream evacuations of some low-lying (areas), he said. 

Areas near Coal Tubing along Station Street in Ferndale were flooded on Wednesday afternoon.

Paul Bomboy, who was the designated manager of a temporary Red Cross shelter at the Forest Hills School District in Sidman, said most people chose instead to lodge with family or friends who live on higher ground. There were only 40 or so residents taking advantage of the school district's facilities.

He added that the magnitude of the situation — and the area's history with massive rainfall events — led to tension across the community.

"It's done it (flooded) before," Bomboy said.

Water pooling in the front lawn of a Wilmore home on Wednesday. The town was evacuated at the recommendation of Cambria County officials who were concerned about the Wilmore Dam.

Wilmore Dam was built in 1908 and is owned by the Cambria Somerset Authority. It was rated poor in a September 2020 inspection with the condition detail “deficiency recognized."

The next month, however, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection found Wilmore Dam to be in generally good condition.

The state made these recommendations at the time and noted in a report there were some issues with the spillway in the past: 

  1. Continue to operate the valves in the intake tower periodically to assure operability. The video inspection of the outlet pipes performed in 2019 showed some accumulation of debris in both pipelines, and the owner should consider ways of flushing the pipelines to remove this debris.
  2. Continue to maintain the grassy area downstream from the embankment, as in previous years. The crest and upstream face are relatively maintenance free, but should be monitored for problems.
  3. Continue to monitor areas of noted seepage on the downstream masonry face of the embankment, and consider maintenance of those masonry areas that exhibit excessive deterioration on the outer face.
  4. Continue to monitor the condition of the channel downstream of the spillway. A minor earth slip was noted roughly 170 feet downstream of the emergency spillway in June 2019, and was observed again during the 2020 inspection. This slip is not a result of pipeline or spillway flows, and continuation of the slide will not impact the dam or appurtenances. The owner has discussed the situation with the PA Fish & Boat Commission, who are considering addressing this slip with a stream bank stabilization project. The slip has not propagated any further since the 2019 inspection.
  5. Inspect the intake tower access bridge for structural issues and repaint those areas exhibiting signs of rust.
  6. There is one large pine tree below the lower face of the dam that has died. This tree poses no threat to the integrity of the dam itself but may damage the valve house if the tree falls. The tree should be removed before it falls over naturally.

On Wednesday, DEP had no specific concerns about the Wilmore Dam or any other dams as the remnants of Hurricane Ida moved through the state, according to spokesman Neil Shader.

"DEP staff are standing by to assist as needed but the varied rainfall around the state makes it difficult to predict anything definitive," he said. "I don’t think there is any way to know how much the Wilmore Dam could hold before failing. As the inspection report noted it is in good condition."

Hinckston Run dam, built in 1905, was also rated poor in 2020.

Both dams, a few miles from Johnstown, were considered high-hazard dams that are likely to kill someone were they to fail.

Evacuees were being taken to a nearby high school with help from the Red Cross, National Guard, local transit authority and school transportation services.

Areas near Coal Tubing along Station Street in Ferndale were flooded on Wednesday afternoon.
Areas near Coal Tubing along Station Street in Ferndale were flooded on Wednesday afternoon.

Late in the afternoon, Summerhill Borough Volunteer Fire Department Deputy Chief Larry Penatzer said there was no timetable for when evacuees can return to their homes. 

"We don't know how long they're going to be out," he said. 

The dam has a capacity of 1.03 billion gallons, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. That much water could fill nearly 2,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

DEP had no specific concerns about the Wilmore Dam or any other dams as the remnants of Hurricane Ida moved through the state, according to spokesman Neil Shader.

"DEP staff are standing by to assist as needed but the varied rainfall around the state makes it difficult to predict anything definitive," he said. "I don’t think there is any way to know how much the Wilmore dam could hold before failing. As the inspection report noted it is in good condition."

More:Flood tracker: See live information and forecasts for river levels in your area

Ruth Miller of the state Emergency Management Agency, said in an email that, "Prior to the storm event we asked dam owners to closely monitor the performance of their dam, report any issues, and follow the dam’s Emergency Action Plan (EAP) when conditions warrant. For example, today’s evacuations downstream from the Wilmore Dam followed protocols spelled out in the EAP – when water flows over the spillway, the EAP calls for evacuations downstream.

"At this time PEMA and DEP have not have received notification of any other dam related issues ... People who live downstream from a dam should always be prepared to quickly evacuate by knowing several routes to higher ground, and planning ahead for where they would go. Additional information is available online at https://www.ready.pa.gov/BeInformed/Know-The-Threats/Pages/Dam-And-Water-Threat-.aspx//;

According to the National Weather Service in State College, in nearby Portage rain was likely until around 9 p.m. Wednesday, with a wind gusts as high as 24 mph. New rainfall between half an inch and three-quarters of an inch is possible. The low temperature will be around 52 degrees.

The sun is expected to return Thursday along with a high near 70. Winds will be from the north at 8 mph to 11 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Preliminary heaviest rainfall at Johnstown-Cambria County Airport per NWS State College was a 4-hour period between 4-8 a.m. when 1.65 inches fell. About 3.53 inches from midnight until the 5 p.m. reading.

The Cambria County Transit Authority, aka CamTran, had a fleet of nine buses on standby at the Forest Hills school temporary shelter.

"We have all our buses on alert right now," dispatcher Chuck Slebodnik said, noting that CamTran also moved operational headquarters from the Woodvale neighborhood of Johnstown to higher ground at the Galleria Mall in Richland Township. "We're staying just in case the dam breaks."

Though the danger seemed to pass by the evening, Dell said, the stress took a toll.

USA Today NETWORK staff Bruce Siwy, Eric Kieta, Candy Woodall, Teresa Boeckel, Randy Parker and The Associated Press contributed to this report.