Butler County marks 20 years since Ivan’s fury
It’s not often hurricanes strike Western Pennsylvania. When they do, residents remember them for a long time.
Sept. 17 marks the 20-year anniversary of the day when Hurricane Ivan struck Butler County, on a fateful Friday in 2004.
By the time it struck Western Pennsylvania, Ivan had already caused 67 deaths and billions of dollars in damage in South America and the Caribbean, before making landfall in Alabama as a Category 3 hurricane on Sept. 16. Ivan made its way through the Deep South, causing an estimated 25 direct fatalities before turning north toward Pennsylvania.
Butler County had already dealt with the remnants of two major hurricanes that summer — Hurricane Charley in August, and Hurricane Frances the previous week. On Sept. 8, Frances gave Butler County a single-day record for rainfall, as it dumped almost 4 inches on the region.
That record would last just about a week, as Butler County would experience 5 inches of rainfall from the remnants of Ivan on Sept. 17. Countless homes were damaged and made unlivable, either temporarily or permanently, while roads were impassable due to flooding.
By 4:45 p.m. Friday afternoon, county commissioners declared a state of emergency. Later that night, then-Gov. Ed Rendell declared Butler, Allegheny, Armstrong and Washington counties a disaster emergency area.
Kevin Boozel, now a Butler County commissioner, was the executive director of Catholic Charities of Butler County at the time, and played a key role in the emergency response. This included soliciting donations of furniture, washers and dryers for residents who had theirs ruined by flooding.
“We were mucking out basements and getting Clorox delivered to houses so they could clean up all the mud and debris. That was the first couple of days,” Boozel said. “Then we met with the (Butler County) 911 Center, and we decided on how to get rid of the refuse. We had trucks coming in, and municipalities were covering the cost of dumpsters.”
The hardest hit areas were concentrated in the lower-lying southwest parts of the county, including Renfrew, Harmony, Evans City and Jackson Township. Harmony was especially hard hit, with Jody Knights, the executive director for the Butler County Red Cross at the time, declaring the borough “100% destroyed.”
Leslie Osche, who is now a Butler County commissioner, was then the director of the Butler County United Way, and assisted the Red Cross in the cleanup effort.
“I could see on Whitestown Road how bad the water was, and I’d never seen anything like it,” Osche said. “The water was over the road on Eberhart (Road), and I knew we were in trouble. So I called the Red Cross and said, ‘What can I do?’”
Osche was dispatched to assist the Red Cross at a shelter set up at Connoquenessing Elementary School. Other shelters were set up at South Butler Primary Center (now known as Knoch Primary Center) and the Penn Township Volunteer Fire Department on Airport Road.
According to Osche, people stayed at the Connoquenessing shelter for up to two days before other accommodation could be found for them.
“We ordered food, we had the cots, and we’re all standing out there waiting. And I thought, ‘Nobody’s going to come. Nothing’s going to happen,’” Osche said. “Little did I know how bad it was out there. Pretty soon buses started pulling up with people that they had rescued.”
In Renfrew, the floodwaters were so high the U.S. Post Office building on Meridian Road was almost completely submerged.
Following the hurricane and the flooding, Zelienople residents were left without access to clean water for several days, because the flood took out the Zelienople Water Authority’s treatment plant. Residents were put under a mandatory water conservation order.
A group of 11 Mennonites from Hagerstown, Md., drove four hours to Jackson Township to aid in the emergency response.
The flooding took a heavy tool on the city of Butler as well, where a Streets Department garage loaded with expensive equipment, including vehicles and computers, was deluged. The damage was estimated at $500,000, and the city had no flood insurance.
“It was the city that primarily got hit by Ivan because of Sullivan Run overflowing everywhere,” Boozel said.
The storm also led to the cancellation or postponement of major civic events, such as Oktoberfest in Evans City and Butler’s Ethnic Festival.
Despite the massive amount of damage to civic and personal property, no one in Butler County died as a result of Hurricane Ivan. Another silver lining came from the community’s response.
Knights was quoted Sept. 20 as saying, “When I walked into the Evans City Fire Hall on Saturday, I literally walked into the back and cried. The offers of help have been overwhelming, and the community spirit has just been amazing.”
Boozel said the emergency response to Ivan led to greater interagency coordination for future disasters in Butler County.
“This was how VOAD was started — Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster in Butler County,” Boozel said. “We learned a lot from this. We knew each other pretty well — Red Cross, Catholic Charities, Housing Authority, United Way. That VOAD has really strengthened our community response to these types of events.”
After it passed over Pennsylvania, the remnants of Ivan led to six more deaths in eastern Canada before finally dissipating for good.
