On July 10, less than nine years after Ivan, the Hennemuths and the rest of downtown Oakdale again found themselves cleaning up after another flood. Pockets of heavy rain pounded an area saturated by previous rainfalls, and though flood levels never reached those of Ivan, businesses and homes across the region felt the brunt.  

In downtown Oakdale, water rose to about five feet, and seeped through doorways and into basements. Water destroyed equipment at Moore’s Hardware and donations stored at the Rock Community Center meant for its annual flea market fundraiser. Floodwaters ruined office interiors around the town’s central intersection and pooled for about twelve hours in a plaza off Seminary Avenue, decimating the contents of numerous businesses.  

Upstream, just a few miles away in McDonald, floodwaters consumed ten businesses and caused sewers to back up into 25 homes, says McDonald VFD Fire Chief Terry Kerr. There, Robinson Run picked up Coke machines and empty propane tanks, depositing them in other parts of town and other towns.  

In Sturgeon, Robinson Run flooded additional homes, while North Branch turned the North Fayette Township Park into a flood plain. Water covered two entire baseball diamonds and a soccer field before cresting not far from the municipal building. North Fayette and Findlay townships both issed emergency declarations, and police and volunteer firefighters scrambled to respond to reports of dozens of flooded homes and to block roads affected by high water and downed trees.  

"It has never come up that fast," says PJ Simonds, who moved into her house in the heart of downtown Oakdale in 2007, after her husband, Mark, accepted the pastor position at Oakdale United Presbyterian Church. Robinson Run flows just feet from their home.  

Like a number of homeowners who moved to Oakdale post-Ivan, PJ and Mark had heard accounts. They moved into the house to be close to their church, and insisted on buying flood insurance, even though their mortgage company tried to convince them otherwise. They say their lender didn’t consider their house to be in a flood zone.  

"The previous owner was an elderly lady who had to be rescued from her second floor window," says PJ. "We insisted on getting flood insurance."

Since then, she says they’ve been flooded four times, two of which she describes as "major." She was home during this most recent and severe one, which left over five feet of water in their basement.  

"My five-year-old looked out the window and said, ‘Mommy, there’s seaweed on the street’," she says.  

Now, heavy rains are cause for concern, as are flood warnings.

"Your ears perk up," says Craig.  

The same goes for Patrick Konieczny, owner and proprietor of Thomas-Little Funeral Service in Oakdale. In 2004, Patrick was setting off on his first year of running the business solo when Ivan hit. Like many other businesses in downtown Oakdale, he lost everything on his first two floors and ended up having to gut his building. His insurance carrier eventually covered the renovation costs, but none of the building’s contents. 

This time, Patrick says the damage was minimal. After Ivan, he stopped using the basement for storage. He also installed automatic sump pumps, and moved his air conditioning and heating equipment three feet off the floor.  

Still, the frequency and fear of what will happen next time linger.  

"When it rains hard, I’m just waiting for that phone call," he says. 

Following this most recent flood, the community showed that they, too, were paying attention. The day of, residents responded. Members of Crossroads United Methodist Church posted signs in downtown Oakdale asking those who needed help to call. While some church members put together bagged lunches and handed them out to weary workers, others helped rip out carpeting and shovel silt.  

Crossroads Executive Pastor Dale Roddy estimates that about 75 members responded on the ground, and that another 75 made donations.

"People just get shell-shocked," says Dale, who has led mission trips to disaster areas like post-Katrina Mississippi. "Sometimes they just need someone to offer help and give them a place to start."  

Oakdale United Presbyterian Church members, some of whom were returning from a mission trip to Copperhill, Tennessee, passed out sandwiches, cleared debris from homes and businesses, and spread lime to sterilize yards.  

Ron Watters of Ron Watters Automotive says that no less than 20 people called to see if he needed help, many of them customers.

Craig and Ann, too, had customers responding in force, along with members of Oakdale U.P. and Crossroads. Unlike last time, they managed to salvage their computers and financial records, along with a forklift, which helped them clean. For days, they tossed ruined inventory into two large dumpsters, but by Monday were at least back up and running.  

By that time, yellow caution tape surrounding the McDonald Plaza had also come down, after a number of businesses ripped out carpeting and removed about six inches of drywall, electrical wire, and insulation from their walls. Ted Ersek says it could have been worse at his beer distributor, Colonial Beer, were it not for a good Samaritan who pulled a trailer up behind the store just as floodwaters were rising and helped him move inventory to higher ground.  

"I don’t even know who he was," says Ted, who managed to fill his weekend bar orders.  

The next day he had twenty people show up to help.  

For a number of businesses there, it was the second time dealing with a flood. Kristy Fuller says that after Ivan, she lost everything in her childcare center, Kristy’s Kiddie Care Learning Center, and that it took five months to reopen. This time, she says flooding caused about $10,000 worth of uninsured damage, but that she was at least back open by Monday.  

She applauded her employees for ushering children to safety.  

"Our staff did a great job of getting the kids out," says Kristy, who made arrangements for them to stay at McDonald Heritage Library until parents could arrive.

Throughout the week’s end, Oakdale volunteer firefighters put in long hours, some taking time off work to pump out basements and hose down streets covered in silt after their own station flooded. Oakdale VFD Chief Bill Hartman says that the water rose very quickly, from one to several feet, as they responded to the day’s first call off Seminary Avenue. There, firefighters evacuated seven children and two adults from a daycare center, and then scrambled to assist others as people came to them asking for help.

Calling 911, says Bill, would have saved precious time by letting operators assess calls.  

He says 15 businesses and 52 homes were affected, and expressed appreciation for the North Fayette, Rennerdale, Kirwan Heights, and Oak Ridge fire departments for responding and helping them clean their own station.  

A number of Oakdale residents commended municipal workers for making numerous trips and clearing piles of debris dumped on sidewalks.

In one of the hardest hit parts of town off Seminary Avenue, Oakdale residents and members of the West Allegheny Football Team helped pull equipment and drywall out of Tom Burke’s pizzeria and pub, Pepperoncini’s.  

"We had people there day and night from Thursday to Sunday," says Tom, a West Allegheny teacher and member of the football boosters’ club.

He says that people brought sandwiches, and that Brendan Martin at Firehouse Subs in The Pointe at North Fayette sent them hoagies.  

"You’re working all day, you don’t think to eat," he says.  

For Tom, too, it was the second time experiencing a flood. He plans to reopen on September 1. Unlike last time, Tom and his wife had insurance on their contents, as was required by an SBA loan they were awarded after Ivan. He says the loan helped then, as will the insurance now, but he still describes the process of applying for it as arduous.

In the aftermath, residents and business owners have continued to look for answers. At an Oakdale borough council meeting the following week, several people complained that little had been done since Ivan to prevent flooding. Some suggested dredging the two streams that converge in town, a measure Oakdale Borough President Huck Gamble said has long been prohibited by Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection.  

DEP Community Relations Coordinator John Poister explains that dredging not only destroys the ecology of a stream, but also is not a good long-term solution. He says that clearing obstructions from culverts, or bottlenecks, is much more effective. DEP Wetlands and Water Management Program Manager Rita Coleman says that dredging, "merely sends the water downstream faster causing problems for downstream neighbors."  

She instead suggests looking into Growing Greener grants to retrofit sidewalks and parking lots with porous concrete and better drainage systems.

John says that Oakdale’s flooding problems have also had much to do with a combination of unusually heavy rains and its bowl-like terrain.  

For Craig and Ann, they say that even after two floods, they’re not looking to blame anyone for what they call "an act of God."

"We just want someone to be looking for answers," says Ann.