Impact of Tropical Storm Isaias on the Wissahickon Watershed
08/06/2020
The Four Mills Barn, our headquarters, took on about 10 inches of water, heavily damaging the first floor. Files, photos, and furniture were engulfed in muddy water and could not be salvaged. Our copier and HVAC systems were submerged and suffered damages as well. We are thankful to the friends and family that offered fans and dehumidifiers on such short notice—these appliances almost certainly prevented more damage. We are working with flood specialists for a thorough cleaning and mold abatement treatment.
This beloved trail follows the Wissahickon Creek, and when the creek jumped its banks, the trail became submerged. The powerful floodwaters left not only debris, but destruction of our built structures, namely boardwalks, footbridges, stepping stones, and signage. As a result, we immediately closed the trail for the safety of our community. Our conservation team and several volunteers conducted assessments and we reopened sections of the trail that have been identified as safe. We do not yet know the cost of repairing and replacing the boardwalks and stepping stones, but we know that they are essential for both trail users and the habitat.
The Mill had about 24 inches of standing water in the basement at its peak. The good news is that this water drained quickly and completely and there is little to no water damage. One window pane was broken and there was a layer of silt that we have cleaned up from the floorboards.
Wissahickon overflows in Ambler, floods environmental group’s headquarters
Published 8/4/20 in The Philadelphia Inquirer
”The driveway was just a waterfall,” said Executive Director Gail Farmer, after she and others went to assess the damage from water that rushed into the first floor, which is concrete. ”Everything is covered in mud. Furniture. File cabinets — anything that touched the floor has water damage and smells like the nastiest part of a pond.”
How much rain from Isaias fell in the Philadelphia area?
Published 8/6/20 in The Philadelphia Inquirer
“The Wissahickon watershed is 64 square miles. And all the 64 square miles flow into various tributaries, then into the Wissahickon, then into the Schuylkill,” Gail Farmer said. “As with any storm, the magnitude increases as you go downstream. You have all the water upstream building momentum and volume and power as it makes its way down slopes and through the watershed into the Schuylkill, then the Delaware and eventually the ocean.”
Philadelphia got hit hardest, she said, “because it got all the rainwater from the drainage area above them.”
Wissahickon Trails assesses damage to buildings, paths following Tropical Storm Isaias
Published 8/13/20 in The Reporter
"More than one week after Tropical Storm Isaias came through Montgomery County, Wissahickon Trails is still picking up the pieces.
“We didn’t in our wildest dreams imagine that within hours of the rains starting with Tropical Storm Isaias that we’d have a flooding situation on our hands,” said Executive Director Gail Farmer.
The barn at Four Mills Nature Reserve, the Green Ribbon Trail and the The Evans-Mumbower Mill sustained the most damage. Farmer estimated repairs would cost at least $30,000 for the barn and the trail."