08/10/09: Gowanda Flooding Day #1: Death and Destruction Hit WNY’s Southern Tier

Original YNN Buffalo Air Date: 08/10/09
Severe flooding has claimed the life of at least one person near the Cattaraugus- Erie county line. Wild weather filled Mike Conner’s pool with mud and slug from the Cattaraugus River. It’s a common scene around Gowanda.
“This pool, the cover was way over on the side. The plants were all over. I mean the stuff was just floating in here,” Conner lamented. “That’s all the debris that the creek threw up on everybody’s lawn,” he added. The mud washed away Conners lawn and even carried a truck five houses down the road.
“It’s a Dodge truck and it’s just totally buried. It was probably in somebody’s front yard and got carried back to the edge of the creek,” said Conner.
“We had cars floating down Main Street. It was a very dangerous and scary situation,” said Gowanda Village Mayor Dick Klancer.
Gowanda officials say they have been working double time to clear roads and rescue residents.
“We’re evacuating people out of their houses. We’re taking them to the Aldrich street school which is the Gowanda Elementary school. We’re housing them there. We have the Red Cross and the Salvation Army here,” Klancer added.
Erie and Cattaraugus County squads were out in full force, including 13 different emergency crews and companies. At least 75 evacuees sought shelter at the school.
The heavy rain plugged up tributaries to the Cattaraugus Creek, flooding Chapel, West Main and Walnut and Jamestown Streets.
The water continues to race along Cattaraugus Creek, and some Gowanda residents say at times the crest levels rose from six to 11 feet in a matter of minutes.
That’s just enough time to get swept away. Emergency officials say 80 year old Theodore Stitzel drowned in violent waters.
“We didn’t want anybody walking on the streets or in any area where they didn’t know how deep the water was on the streets. Because it’s a little deceiving when you’re walking along, you could drown or be swept away,” warned Gowanda Disaster Coordinator Nick Crassi.
Residents say they haven’t seen a storm like this in a decade.
“I guess they got about six or seven inches of rain over in Perrysburg and I told the kids it’s going to all come down into Gowanda,” said Gowanda’s Debbie Sowa.