City of Washington looks for fixes after flooding: "It's only getting worse"
Waters have receded in the city of Washington after Saturday's heavy rain, but the cleanup is still underway in flood-prone areas near Jefferson and Wylie, with business owners hoping for some long-term solutions.
Ray Miniotas, the store manager of the Phantom Fireworks off Jefferson, showed KDKA the drain in the alley behind the shop filled with debris after flooding last weekend.
"I tried with a shovel even to get through here and it's so packed solid, there's nowhere for [water] to go," Miniotas said.
Miniotas said it was the worst flooding he's seen in the area.
"It's a recurring problem and it's only getting worse every time it rains," Miniotas said.
Mayor JoJo Burgess declared a state of emergency, saying the drainage system was overwhelmed. Now as they try to recover, he said they've been in touch with U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler's office and heard from state Sen. Camera Bartolotta's office to see what help the city can get both from the federal and state levels in the short term and to prevent additional issues in the future.
"We have a flood mitigation plan that we're working on down in that area," Burgess said. "We're going to probably seek some of our state legislators to talk to the DEP, see what we got to do in order to get some of that stuff moving."
As for the drain at Phantom Fireworks, Burgess said it belongs to the city and they're having workers examine it to figure out how to clear it.
"We can't control Mother Nature, and these significant events keep on happening. All we can do is still try to brace and prepare for them as best we can, and we're going to do that," Burgess said.
