Council VP: 'We Became an Island Again' During Irene

At Hellertown Borough Council's Sept. 19 meeting, Chief Rick Delmore delivered a report on the fire department's response during and after .

The report highlighted the tremendous efforts of the company's volunteers, who responded to 60 storm-related incidents between Saturday, Aug. 27 and Monday, Aug. 29.

However, it also highlighted some of the challenges caused by the significant flash flooding that temporarily restricted access to Hellertown via most major routes.

At one point all of the major roads across the Saucon Creek--which flows along the west side of the borough--, which meant that Lower Saucon Township police could not effectively respond to calls in the eastern half of the township, Hellertown Police Chief Robert Shupp said.

During that time, Hellertown's eight officers on duty responded to calls east of the borough, but doing so put some strain on the Hellertown Police Department's limited resources.

In spite of that, Shupp said he felt the department and other agencies involved in first response were "really prepared" for the storm, and he remarked that Lower Saucon's police officers would have done the same, if their roles had been reversed.

Police made one felony arrest in the wake of the storm, when a man attempting to drive through flood waters refused to stop after an officer commanded him to do so.

"He had some choice words for the officer and continued going through the barricades," Shupp said, adding that the arrest was for a felony because a state of emergency was in effect at the time.

Borough Council Vice President and Dewey EMS Captain John Bate lauded the efforts of police and in particular the volunteers, but observed that the borough briefly "became an island again" as a result of .

For much of the day that Sunday, Route 412 was closed near Saucon Park in the City of Bethlehem, which limited access to Hellertown from the north, and the flooding of Polk Valley Run near the Shoppes at Hellertown closed Route 412 from the south early in the morning.

Bate emphasized that the resources put to use during the storm by the volunteers from Dewey were brought to bear "at no cost to the borough."

"I just want everyone to know how fortunate they were to have these volunteers," he said.

According to Delmore's report, Dewey responded to 30 pump details, seven wire problems, three downed trees and five road closures, in addition to four rescues.

If there was one major problem the department encountered in the wake of Irene, it was that "we just did not have enough pumps," he said.

As a result, a week after the storm the department purchased a new pump, which means it now has a total of six, he added.

Delmore said he plans to apply for Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) grant money to help purchase additional pumps in the future.

"It's getting more apparent that we're going to have more floods," he said.

Other goals are to get all of the company's volunteer members water rescue-certified next summer, and to further educate the public about the danger of moving barricades in order to access flooded roadways.

In the wake of Irene, Delmore said, "people were just moving the barricades and driving through."

Councilwoman Stephanie Kovacs asked Delmore whether more can be done to notify members of the pubilc about the location of storm shelters in the borough.

"It used to be that each ward had a place to go to," she said, adding that many Hellertown residents no longer know where they would need to seek shelter in case of an emergency.

Kovacs suggested including a list of storm shelter locations with the next borough fire tax bill.

Shupp said that in terms of a centralized location for incident command during the emergency, he believes that Dewey Fire Company functioned admirably.

The building is spacious and dry, and includes a kitchen and places to sleep, he said.

"I thought there was a good use of incident command," he added.