Clean up continues in Oakdale, businesses hope for aid

OAKDALE — Immense cleanup continues in Oakdale, after the remnants of Hurricane Ida pummeled the small borough.

“It started coming from the corners,” said resident Michelle Sibbet.

By Wednesday morning, her entire basement was under water, damaging a number of items and appliances. A first-floor addition also flooded. Sibbet’s landlords were assisting in pulling up the carpet Thursday.

“It’s a little rough, but as you can see, people come around and help,” Sibbet said. “It’s a small town. Everybody helps everybody.”

Channel 11 spoke with Red Cross crews going door-to-door Thursday, assessing the damage, and offering “clean-up kits” to affected residents.

People were also helping one another out on Noblestown Road, where a number of businesses flooded. Volunteers were assisting employees with the clean up at Moore’s Hardware.

“We have an oily mess,” said Pam Decker, who was wiping things down in the garage.

Nearby, Lauren Rogers, owner of Studio eLLe, was disinfecting after her floors had to be ripped up.

“The water came all the way up to the windowsill,” she said. “I had just opened in March. We worked really hard, my mom and I, trying to get this place together and I thought all that hard work was gone.”

But, Rogers is plugging along, hoping to re-open on Friday as long as she can get her flooded hot water tank replaced.

She rents her business space but nonetheless is taking a big financial hit from the flood damage.

Rogers hopes she may at some point be able to apply for assistance. If any area is declared a disaster, business owners can apply for loans through the Small Business Association.

In July, Governor Tom Wolf applied for and received an SBA emergency declaration to benefit flooding victims in other parts of the state.

Channel 11 contacted state officials on Thursday to see if that might be possible following Wednesday’s damage.

A spokesperson for PEMA told us “It’s too early to tell at this point if we meet the criteria to request an SBA declaration for low-interest loans due to flooding from Ida. Damage assessments are ongoing and will likely continue for the next day or two (or longer) in western PA.”

To meet the criteria by SBA standards, at least 25 homes or businesses must have sustained uninsured losses of at least 40 percent of their fair market value.  If a county meets those criteria, all contiguous counties are also included in the SBA declaration.

Rogers told us that relief would be “much needed.”