Oakmont Carnegie Library remains closed after flooding, faces months of repairs

The storm that caused widespread devastation last week continues to leave residents cleaning up. The Oakmont Carnegie Library remains closed as cleanup efforts turn into repairs. Repairs to its basement are expected to take months.

After the storms rolled through the area, about eight inches of water entered the basement. It poured in through vents and flowed under the doors, forcing people, including a young girl, to evacuate.

"This hurts. This is a huge loss for us and for the community. Just to think about being without these spaces for the next few months is overwhelming," library director Caitlyn Boland said.

Now the basement has fans blowing and crews taking out everything that was ruined.

Out front, two dumpsters sit loaded with debris. Their books were spared upstairs. The servers that run the whole library just missed being a casualty of the flooding.

"It was literally just above water level," Boland said.

The hope is that, over the next few days, the upstairs section can reopen.

"We're just trying to get back to a point where we are operable upstairs," Boland said.

The library is also trying to determine where to hold programs normally held in the damaged downstairs space.

"We're going to have discussions about that and try and figure out what we can carry on for the community. What we can bring upstairs, if other spaces are the option," Boland said.

No dollar figure has been determined for the damage. The library is hoping people will continue to donate to the Love Your Library campaign running this month.