Martial Law authorized and curfew in place in Wilkes Barre, PA

i live about 15 min from there, according to online reports susquehanna river is believed to crest at 13 ft. but i dont know if that has changed by now. already have the flood gates in place but there has been talk that the levee has some damage from the flooding from last year that has still not been repaired. rain doesnt seem to be all that bad yet and the wind isnt as bad as it has been made out to be but the storm is far from over.

This is possibly to help stop any looting etc...

Good info OP.

Please keep us updated. My mom lives in Nanticoke. Stay safe man. I remember when I was a kid there was a huge flood and the water nearly came up to the bridge going to West Nanticoke. Pretty scary.

Sounds like in 1972 it was primarily because they tried to evacuate and the streets were grid locked, but I know looting was an issue then as well. In this economy, I'm sure some people figured Christmas has come early...

Still makes me nervous to hear about martial law when everyone is so on edge about the state of everything.

My son doesn't live too far from Wilkes-Barre and his electricity went out about three hours ago.

Wow small world!

Last year there was a huge flood and years ago they had the really big one (in the '70s).

I'm originally from the valley. Are you getting much rain? THe Susquahanna flood stage is around 40 feet, right?

That makes sense. I could see why the mayor would do it for that reason in Wilkes-Barre.

I know it man! Shickshinny was a mess last year. I was only a toddler in the 70s so I don't remember that one.

Here's a report talking about martial law in Wilkes Barre back in 1972.

[link to 140.194.76.129]

Seriously, I'm glad to see there are so many GLP-ers from NEPA. I'm in West Hazleton.

Hurricane Agnes was in June, 1972. It wiped out Wilkes_Barre. I was 9 years old and lived near the river but wasn't flooded. Last year was worse in some areas.

I was only a few weeks old for the '72 flood, so don't remember anything, but have heard lots and lots of stories. I'm never sure how much is hype, but I keep hearing this one is supposed to be worse...

the river will crest at 15ft maybe. not a foot more. nothing to worry about

Thanks for the pin



Since we're attracting locals here, please do let us know (as power and internet allow) if things seem to be getting out of hand.

The flood I remember as a kid in the 80s was only because of a ton of rain, not a hurricane or anything. It didn't cause any damage but it was still spooky.

Yup I'm honestly pretty worried right now for everyone in all of the northeastern US. This is no joke.

Thankfully I fled to AZ about 8 years ago so I'm relatively doom-free here. (For now.)

I don't live there but I know about the area from my son. I actually like it a lot over there.

:camp fema:

Not funny!

i'm in harrisburg and things are fine here. its barely raining anymore.

Midtown Harrisburg here....

Things are relatively calm.

I could not resist

Oh that's good. I think the worst is over for PA.

I've lived here my entire life and aside from the blizzard of 1993, this storm today is the only one to come close to the magnitude of that one...at least in the strength of the wind, if nothing else. There certainly hasn't been a lot of rain, though. We had hurricane lee destroy most everything south of Wilkes Barre along the river...I think that was either last year or the year before, but that was mostly flooding of the susquehanna, which happens all the time. WB spent millions of flood walls. And that storm was a LOT of rain, but not this one so far.

But as far as the wind, I've honestly never seen anything like this before. NEVER.

However, as I guess you can see, I still have power and internet. The lights have been flickering all night, but nothing ever went out. A friend texted me a little while ago and said they lost power about 10 miles southeast of here, but only for about 15 minutes.

I'm in S Central PA. I know my parents electricity went out this evening and they're still running on a generator. Power is what I'm most concerned about. Still have a bit of storm to get through and then possible snow. Trees taking out power lines are a way of life around here, but if it's happening all at once, no telling how long it will take to get everyone up and running again.

Use to live in Pocono Lake, and also Dickson City, and "up de Eynon". Great to see others from NEPA. Agnes was pretty bad, remember hearing the stories from when I was a kid. Hope you all weather it safely. Hang in there Poconos!!

Im from Bloomsburg, That river is scary and mean when it rises