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January brings rebrand, networking sponsorship from Coal Creative

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Fidelity Bank branch opening features free car seat checks, $15,000 grant

<p>Not too long ago, 23 years to be exact, the Wyoming Valley was under attack by Mother Nature.</p><p>The Blizzard of 96 dumped nearly two feet of snow in the area resulting in the declaration of a state of emergency by then Gov. Tom Ridge.</p><p>Snow began falling slowly on Jan. 8 and picked up in intensity ending late the following day on Jan. 9, 1996.</p><p>Travel was banned, Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers of the 109th Field Artillery were called out to transport nurses, doctors and patients from their homes to hospitals, and schools and stores were forced to close, the Times Leader reported Jan. 9, 1996.</p><p>What followed after the record-setting blizzard turned disastrous.</p><p>Beginning Jan. 19, 1996, conditions favorable for flooding developed when heavy rain accompanied by temperatures in the mid-60s and winds gusting to 40 miles per hour moved over Pennsylvania. The intense rainfall combined with melting of the snow pack caused rivers and streams to rise at a rapid and scary pace, according to the National Weather Service.</p><p>&#8220;Prompted by an alarming rise in the Susquehanna River, Luzerne County Emergency Management Director Jim Siracuse announced Friday night that an evacuation was to begin at dawn today of all areas of the Wyoming Valley affected by the Agnes Flood,&#8221; the Times Leader reported Jan. 20, 1996.</p><p>In 1996, earthen levees and steel walls protected most of the Wyoming Valley of a river level of up to 38 feet. The levees hadn&#8217;t been tested by high river levels in 20 years and the fear existed that the levees had settled in some parts as the reason for the evacuation of low-lying areas.</p><p>&#8220;There is a concern that&#8230;there&#8217;s been a low spot in the levee caused by ground that settled,&#8221; Siracuse told the Times Leader on Jan. 19, 1996.</p><p>Travel bans were once again imposed throughout the area due to flooded streets and runoff.</p><p>Mudslides occurred in Plymouth Township and creeks and streams throughout the area flooded homes and streets. Solomon Creek in South Wilkes-Barre overflowed its flood wall causing water to inundate Mercy Hospital&#8217;s lower lobby and first floor of the parkade.</p><p>At 10:15 p.m. on Jan. 20, 1996, Mercy Hospital activated its disaster plan evacuating or discharging nearly 150 patients, the Times Leader reported Jan. 21, 1996.</p><p>Nearly 300 volunteers, including college students from King&#8217;s College and Wilkes University, arrived at opposite ends of the Market Street Bridge to fill sandbags that were stacked across the road.</p><p>&#8220;The menacing Susquehanna had already covered the bottom steps leading from the riverside to street level by the time this battle really began. As the first hour passed, traffic on River Street grew as Wilkes-Barre residents headed for higher ground, and volunteers continued to arrive,&#8221; the Times Leader reported.</p><p>An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people sought shelter on higher ground the night of Jan. 19 and the morning of Jan. 20.</p><p>The National Weather Service reported the river in Wilkes-Barre reached 34.45 feet on Jan. 20, 1996, which is the fifth highest since 1865.</p><p>The flood scare of 1996 prompted then U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski to secure federal funds to raise the levees. A massive levee raising project commenced in 1997 that ultimately protected the Wyoming Valley from flooding from back-to-back tropical storm systems in September 2011, when the river hit a record crest of 42.66 feet on Sept. 9, 2011. </p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_1996-flood-river-crest.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Top 10 Susquehanna River crest in Wilkes-Barre. Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_1996-flood-river-crest.jpg</photo0><caption0>Top 10 Susquehanna River crest in Wilkes-Barre. Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_1996-flood-1-Solomons-Creek-TL-01201996.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A vehicle flooded by Solomon Creek on Cemetery Street, Ashley, in January of 1996. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_1996-flood-1-Solomons-Creek-TL-01201996.jpg</photo1><caption1>A vehicle flooded by Solomon Creek on Cemetery Street, Ashley, in January of 1996. </caption1><photoCredit1>Times Leader file photos </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_1996-flood-bear-creek-01201996.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">J.J. Mullen, of Blakeslee Garage, sits on the roof of a submerged vehicle on state Route 115 in Bear Creek Township in January 1996. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_1996-flood-bear-creek-01201996.jpg</photo2><caption2>J.J. Mullen, of Blakeslee Garage, sits on the roof of a submerged vehicle on state Route 115 in Bear Creek Township in January 1996. </caption2><photoCredit2>Times Leader file photos </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_1996-flood-2-TL-01221996.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Two Wilkes-Barre police officers sit on a submerged department&#8217;s vehicle near Solomon Creek in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_1996-flood-2-TL-01221996.jpg</photo3><caption3>Two Wilkes-Barre police officers sit on a submerged department&#8217;s vehicle near Solomon Creek in Wilkes-Barre. </caption3><photoCredit3>Times Leader file photos </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_1996-blizzard.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre crews used front end loads and dump trucks to remove snow from city streets in January of 1996. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_1996-blizzard.jpg</photo4><caption4>Wilkes-Barre crews used front end loads and dump trucks to remove snow from city streets in January of 1996. </caption4><photoCredit4>Times Leader file photos </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Ed Lewis</p><p>elewis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Look Back: Blizzard of 1996 followed by flood