Introduction
Thursday, September 8, 2011 10:00am Pacific Daylight Time
Jamie says Middletown, PA lost power. She and a few others ventured out to take a look around the town and the entire substation for the area where she lives is flooded. She has pictures, but no way to send them at the moment (no power, no Internet).
Since she doesn’t know how long it will take to repair, she is turning off her phone for the time being. More to come.
Middletown, PA has received 12.8 inches of rain since Tuesday.
Middletown, PA and the Susquehanna River
Thursday, September 8, 2011 10:30am Pacific Daylight Time
Jamie lives in Middletown, PA which sits off the Susquehanna River. Across Central Pennsylvania people have been ordered to leave their homes as the Susquehanna rises above flood stage.
Fortunately, Jamie lives downstream where the Susquehanna becomes nearly one mile wide, and the taller among us can typically walk across the entire waterway without getting their head wet (although such actions are strongly discouraged).
Interesting tidbit: the Susquehanna River System is regarded as the oldest or second oldest major system in the world being far older than the mountain ridges through which it runs. Evidence suggests the ancient Susquehanna predated the Appalachian orogeny meaning the river existed well before Pangaea broke up and formed the Atlantic Ocean.
Here is the general area. The “A” denotes where Jamie lives, and just about under the label “Jednota” is where Penn State Harrisburg is located.
The Susquehanna River is higher than normal in this area but is not a flood concern since the river is so wide. Harrisburg and the Airport are currently unconcerned about the state of the river.
The smaller creeks and rivers are overflowing their banks, however. The river just under “Royalton” is the one that flooded the electric substation I mentioned earlier. In fact, if you follow that river up to the very northeast corner of the map you will find Hershey, PA (home of Hershey Chocolates). This is the very river that flooded Hershey Park during Hurricane Agnes in 1972.
If you follow the Susquehanna River to the very bottom of the map, you find Three Mile Island of the 1979 nuclear meltdown fame. Several press releases from Excelon Nuclear have stated Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station will continue operating and is presently does not anticipate any disruption from due to Tropical Storm Lee.
Rain at Harrisburg International As I Left on Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011 11:30am Pacific Daylight Time
This is the take off roll departing Harrisburg International MDT via runway 13 on an Embraer 145 operated as Chautauqua Airlines flight 6118 doing business as Delta Connection on Tuesday, September 6, 2011. Recorded from port side of the aircraft.
At the 1:25 mark you can see the Swatara Creek and Middletown public pool - unfortunately I didn’t capture Hoffer Park per below.
Jamie says power back on; Hoffer Park flooded
Thursday, September 8, 2011 11:30am Pacific Daylight Time
Jamie said power just came back on.
She also said flooding of the Swatara Creek reached the train tracks. The power substation on the very left (corner of Race and Mill) is what caused power to go out.
Hoffer Park is flooded. Too bad. There is a very nice playground built by volunteers that probably got damaged :(
Penn State Harrisburg closed mid-day 9/7 all day 9/8
Thursday, September 8, 2011 11:45am Pacific Daylight Time
Jamie taught her 9:00 am MWF class yesterday, but the school was closed after and has been closed all day today.
Jamie posted some pictures on Facebook (see her profile for more pics)
Thursday, September 8, 2011 12:00 pm Pacific Daylight Time
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Click on the above pictures to see in full size.
The left most photo is of closed fuel station and a business park on the shores of Swatara Creek.
The center photo is the entrance to Hoffer Park while standing on Race Street looking south and using a zoom lens. You can see the Race/Mill street corner signs.
The right most photo is standing on Main Street looking east toward Swatara Creek.
