Remembering Tropical Storm Lee: It seemed the rain would never stop

WEST PITTSTON — On Sept. 6, 2011, 15 years ago today, it began raining heavily from remnants of Tropical Storm Lee traveling from the south through northeast Pennsylvania into New York State.

At the time, many locals began to recall the days of Tropical Storm Agnes dumping 6” to 12” of rain with some spots reaching 19” in June of 1972.

Over a three-day period, Tropical Storm Lee drenched Greater Pittston matching those numbers of Agnes in a 48-hour period. It seemed as if the rain would never stop.

Unlike in 1972, Agnes affected the entire Wyoming Valley, but with the improved flood protection system in place since Agnes, the only vulnerable spot was West Pittston. With the higher levee down river, that left West Pittston a sitting duck.

The Susquehanna River rose to 42.66 feet breaking the previous record in 1972 of 40.91 feet with Agnes.

Floodwater rose in West Pittston in homes and businesses to levels exceeding Agnes. Some structures that didn’t get any flooding in 1972, ended up with basement water and those that had basement flooding with Agnes had first floor flooding.

Approximately 880 residences, 26 businesses, four churches, and four public buildings had damage to the tune of $98 million.

In the aftermath of Agnes, the Army Corp of Engineers determined a level in West Pittston would not be worth it financially due to the benefit-to-cost ratio (BCR). That simply means it compares the total expected benefits of a project to its total costs.

West Pittston residents, in particularly in the flood zone, have endured rising floodwaters since 1972.

There have been a total of six where the Susquehanna River went over its bank creating issues in 1996, 2004, 2005, 2006 and Lee in 2011.

In 2025 and 2026, West Pittston Borough Council has made a significant move in getting a levee.

With the Army Corp of Engineering not backing a levee project, West Pittston must seek private funding to build a flood protection system.

Currently, West Pittston officials are pursuing a non-federal flood-damage-reduction project intended to protect approximately 900 properties in the borough’s Special Flood Hazard Area. Luzerne County formally endorsed the proposed project.

The estimated construction cost has been in the neighborhood of $50–$57 million, depending upon the stage/design estimate.

Borough council has invested money into engineering and design of a levee and contracted the engineering firm Verdantasa for levee scoping and geotechnical investigation and core borings.

FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program eventually acquired and demolished more than 200 substantially damaged residential structures throughout Luzerne County, 14 were in West Pittston.

HUD’s Community Development Block Grant — Disaster Recovery program subsequently funded acquisition and demolition of approximately 150 additional damaged structures, including: 15 in West Pittston.

The Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority also acquired four properties using a combination of federal, state and local funds.

At minimum, the documented federal/HUD buyout-and-demolition programs accounted for 29 West Pittston properties, plus the four acquired by the Flood Protection Authority.

That’s 33 properties removed from the community through those programs and that doesn’t necessarily represent every property that was eventually lost or demolished through other circumstances.

The stipulation with the acquisitions of structures, nothing can ever be built on those properties.

Having those 33 properties off the tax books does not help the borough of West Pittston or the Wyoming Area School District.

Tropical Storm Lee didn’t simply damage houses; it changed the physical makeup of West Pittston forever.