Although the powerful remnants of Hurricane Ivan in September 2004 were expected in Butler County, I think the level of flooding produced by the torrential rains caught many residents and businesses by surprise.

I remember the Connoquenessing Creek in Renfrew covering the top of the bridge and filling the little post office with water that stopped rising just a foot or so before it touched the ceiling.

The Renfrew Post Office was surrounded by water following Hurricane Ivan. According to officials the water crested 2 feet beneath the gutters of the building. Eagle File Photo

Jack Neely

I also recall canoes rescuing the elderly Mrs. Boylan from the Boylan Funeral Home in Evans City, which was rocked by devastation when the normally docile Breakneck Creek rose quickly and breached its banks.

I remember former District Judge Wayne Seibel telling me that borough employees ferried he and his wife, Susan, across Evans City’s Main Street to his office in the bucket of a backhoe so they could save documents from the floodwaters.

The Seibels were unable to cross Main Street due to the murky, rushing waters of the emboldened Breakneck Creek.

The area of the Connoquenessing Creek at Porter’s Cove and along the creek below Hartmann Road in Jackson Township saw many small and cozy camps picked up and carried away by the flood.

Some camps simply disappeared and some were knocked down, and few were rebuilt.

Many tires were washed into the Connoquenessing Creek by the unconcerned Ivan, necessitating an effort by the Allegheny Aquatic Alliance years later to hold annual creek cleanups to remove tires from the waterway. A good majority of those tires, Alliance officials have said, ended up in the creek after Hurricane Ivan.

Another hard-hit area was Harmony, where the then-mighty Connoquenessing heavily flooded low-lying areas of the borough.

I’ll never forget the herculean efforts of the congregation members at Grace Church of Harmony on Main Street, who quietly demonstrated their true Christian values in the dark and chaotic days after Ivan swept in and out of the historic borough.

The church provided anything and everything the residents and business owners needed, including lodging, if necessary; kits containing bleach, rags, mops and a bucket; a place to wash up; and endless meals.

I was there to report on the hard work of the faithful just days after the flood, and I had to jump out of the way several times as church members hurried around, providing relief to citizens.

The most impactful thing I saw on that assignment was a farmer who arrived with a truckload of potatoes.

Without a word, he tipped up the bed of his truck and dumped the spuds onto a tarp in the church yard. Then he hopped back into his truck and left.

A church member told me that action was not unusual, as restaurants, farmers and individuals “flooded” the church with ingredients for the breakfasts, lunches and dinners they provided to weary property owners who were trying to clean and sanitize their buildings.

Those memories of the tireless efforts of Grace Church’s clergy and congregation bring tears to my eyes to this day, and make me proud to be from Butler County.

I guess the flood, now a distant memory to those who experienced it, demonstrated once again that Butler County residents and business owners are here for each other, especially in catastrophic situations like Hurricane Ivan.

I think if, God forbid, another such incident occurred, the response would be exactly the same.

As my late father used to say, “I think people are basically good.”

His theory certainly was proved 20 years ago, as the light of empathy pierced the darkness of devastation when Hurricane Ivan paid Butler County an unwelcome visit.

Paula Grubbs is the Eagle community editor.