Tropical Storm Lee got the upper hand and first blow, but Athens, Pa., will prevail. Tropical storm Lee ravaged this area on September 8, 2011 causing wide spread damage. To understand the magnitude of this event, one must first understand about our town.
According to City Data in July of 2009 there were 3,181 people living in the borough of Athens Pennsylvania. This is a little town just 1.8 square miles, and its two miles south of the New York border. Its your typical small town, full of friendly people but the difference is the town sits between two rivers the Chemung and the Susquehanna.
When the Susquehanna poured over her banks and flooded the town, it got flooded horribly because the town is so small. With it being a small area housing about 2,500 to 3,000 people, most all were effected with flood water. According to City Data, there were 1,427 homes occupied within this area and 842 of those were privately owned.
We have 27 streets in the borough of Athens; 14 had severe damage, 4 had moderation to severe and 9 were untouched. Yes, over half of the streets in Athens have damage on them at varying levels. FEMA is already in town and purchasing properties which are deemed uninhabitable. They will buy many more in the coming weeks.
As for the streets in town, Tioga Street (rt199),had some houses with water in them. Parts of South Main and South Elmira streets which house business and homes were hugely affected in some sections. The ends of South Main were not affected but the businesses in the middle section are severely damaged.
In the main downtown area in the residential section, Edward, Locust, Elm, South, Agnes, Susquehanna, River, Public, Maple, Center, Chestnut, North, Paine and Satterly Streets all sustained heavy damage and this is where most of the condemned buildings are located. Water filled some of these houses to the second floor and as the water recedes we see broken foundations.
Across the railroad tracks lay Wheellock, Hugh, Willow, Laurel, Fourth, Longway, Short, Cherry and Walnut streets, which were not affected by flood waters. Spruce Street is in this section but because of the storm drains backing up, water did fill the bank on the corner and closed the street.