08-05-2025
Heavy rain causes flooding, drainage pipe burst in church
HONESDALE, WAYNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— Crews in the borough of Honesdale are still cleaning up after Tuesday night's storm.
Flooding closed several roads and did some major damage near a local church.
Vine Street looks a lot different than it did during Tuesday night's storm.
The pedestrian bridge that connects to 5th street downtown is closed while crews assess the structural integrity and the sidewalk next to St. John the Evangelist Church has caved in, and water is flowing.
Borough officials say a broken pipe is to blame for a sidewalk caving in and water flowing down Vine Street.
'What we're dealing with here is this is not just a pipe that carries water when it rains. This is a pipe that carries a creek that was taken underground years and years ago,' explained Mayor Derek Williams, Honesdale borough.
The pipe runs directly next to St. John the Evangelist Church.
PHOTOS: Honesdale roads flooded after storms
Breakage caused the sidewalk to completely cave in, and resulted in a broken sewer line inside the church.
'We just saw the place all flooded, and then we saw that the concrete on the church, the entrance to the church, was broken,' recalled Father Dominic Sabi, Asst. Pastor St. John the Evangelist Church.
The broken pipe also caused a nearby pedestrian bridge to be shut down, and closed the nearby Wayne Inn. Those who were staying there are currently displaced.
The borough's mayor says the repairs will likely be a big undertaking.
'So we'll be looking at emergency repairs for the pipes, and we'll be looking at working on some comprehensive planning to assess the whole stormwater system,' stated Williams.
It's unclear how long the repairs will take, but the mayor says the project will involve its partners at the county and state levels.
As for the church, St. John the Evangelist Church, it will remain closed for now.
Church leaders tell 28/22 News that First Holy Communion services that were scheduled next weekend may have to be moved to a nearby parish.
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