Wilkes-barre Twp. - John Heinz Institute

Alex Pawlenok 
Jan. 26, 1994 
Alex Campbell Pawlenok, Infant Son Of Alan And Mara Campbell Pawlenok, Died 
Wednesday At St. Christopher's Hospital For Children, Philadelphia.

By JIM VAN NOSTRAND; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Saturday, January 29, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1 &amp; 10A QUICK WORDS: WEATHER YOU LIKE
IT OR YOU DON'T 





WILKES-BARRE -- Be careful of what you wish for: It may come true. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Friday's relatively balmy temperatures should have been a godsend to
Wyoming Valley and Hazleton residents gripped in a monthlong deep freeze. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; But the accompanying rain and melting snow wreaked havoc on businesses,
homeowners and motorists already weary of dealing with one weather-related
headache after another. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The deluge turned light, fluffy snow on rooftops and power lines into a
leaden load, collapsing entire structures and severing power to both single
homes and neighborhoods. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Freezing rain Thursday night and Friday morning turned roads into ice
rinks. Later, during the thaw, they became lakes and ponds. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 State police closed down sections of interstates 80 and 81 for several
hours, as well as some offramps, because of accidents. At least three trailers
jackknifed on icy I-81, but nobody was injured. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 West Pittston bricklayer Cataldo Tuminelli got the scare of his life at
about 7:30 a.m. Friday when his Ford Bronco slid on ice, smashed into a
tractor-trailer and flew over the guard rail near the I-81 southbound West
Hazleton exit. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Tuminelli squeezed the steering wheel and prayed the trees would stop him
from crashing down the steep incline, he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 His prayers were answered -- roughly 200 feet down the embankment. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It happened so fast. I didn't have time to think. I just hung on and hoped
I'd stop. I'm still shaking," said Tuminelli, 66, who was not injured. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 What the experts say &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The rain swelled creeks to the bursting point and left several inches to a
foot of water on many roads because storm drains were blocked by snow and ice. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The National Weather Service issued a flash-flood warning for Toby's Creek
along Route 309 in the Back Mountain just after 1 p.m., but lifted it later in
the afternoon. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Runoff from a side stream flooded the parking lot at the McDonald's
restaurant on Route 309 in Kingston Township with ankle-deep water, but caused
no damage. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It just couldn't take all of the rain," McDonald's General Manager Rich
Dieso said of the stream. "There was nothing blocked ... it was more of an
inconvenience." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation asks homeowners and
businesses to help clear storm drains along their property. PennDOT also urges
motorists to slow down and exercise extreme caution while traveling area
highways to avoid hydroplaning; that puddle may be deeper than you think. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Virtually every dip in the road is filling up with water," said PennDOT
spokesperson Rolly Keisling. "There's nowhere for it to go." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Ice on power lines and transformers caused power outages for a few dozen
UGI Electric Co. customers in two areas Friday, said spokesperson Joseph
Rymar. Other households were affected by icicles and ice-laden branches
falling on home utility cables. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 About 40 customers in the Bethel Hill area of Sweet Valley were without
service from 2:30 a.m. to 7 a.m., Rymar said. Another 30 lost power between
12:22 and 12:52 in Loomis Park, Hanover Township. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 No Pennsylvania Power &amp; Light operations in Northeastern Pennsylvania were
affected, said spokesperson John Levitski. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Freezing rain and ice cut power to 25,000 PP&amp;L customers near Harrisburg
and Sunbury, however, prompting the company to send line crews from this area
to help out. Levitski attributed the lack of local problems to an aggressive
tree-trimming program that began last summer. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I think that's beginning to pay off," Levitski said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 More damage done &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Major structural collapses from built-up snow occurred at Ira Berger and
Sons, a lumber and building supply business on Route 940 in Foster Township;
Harvey Metal Products in West Wyoming; Caldwell Supply, in the Valmont
Industrial Park, West Hazleton; and the Penn State Seed Co. Inc. warehouse in
Forty Fort. No injury reports were available. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Schuylkill Mall in Frackville was closed Friday because a substantial
portion of the Kmart roof collapsed. It happened before the mall opened and no
one was injured, a mall spokesperson said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The roof of the Dial Corporation in the Valmont Industrial park sagged from
the weight of the rain-soaked snow, said West Hazleton Fire Chief Robert Ward.
Plant workers placed stacks of wooden pallets under the roof to support it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Hundreds of local homeowners are struggling with flooded basements and "ice
dams" -- concentrated ice on roofs, eaves and gutters that leaves melting snow
nowhere to go but between the shingles and down into the house. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The rain only makes the problem worse, said Dave Kenning, president of the
Building Industry Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania. He suggests it
might be wise to remove heavy snow from your roof now, before temperatures
fall again and freeze it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 People should be very careful while venturing onto slick roofs and consider
using a safety rope, Kenning said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Luzerne County Emergency Management Agency estimates local
municipalities suffered at least $4 million in damages from Jan. 4-23 for snow
removal, property and equipment damage and production losses, said executive
director Jim Siracuse. The county is applying for federal disaster relief. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 So, what's the good news? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 If it's any consolation, Siracuse said conditions are ideal for a long
thaw, which lessens the threat of flooding in the spring. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Thursday's warm temperatures and rain melted some of the deep snowpack, but
the colder temperatures expected soon will keep it from all entering the water
table at once, Siracuse said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "These are the ideal conditions for the thaw to spread itself out over a
long period of time," Siracuse said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER/DON CAREY &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Cars try to cross a flooded area on River Street in Plains Township just
south of the North Cross-Valley Expressway on Friday afternoon. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER/RICHARD SABATURA &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Job Coslett of Kingston Plumbing on Union Street makes way for water to
feed a storm drain Friday morning.

Weather You Like It Or You Don't It's Cold. It's Wet. And Weary As We May Be, It's Here To Stay