The Tribune from Scranton, Pennsylvania • 12

A12 THE TRIBUNE, SCRANTON, PA THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 1990 Wrath of the wind Lake Carey: Wtfhat was an idyllic community I 'i VI ,1 Uf lA I -I- ,1 i 1 -S'--' v-v i k' I Ac ssf.y' 'fL-, The lake: Beauty made it a natural draw By Margaret Emery i TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER As a summertime playground for nearly 125 years, Lake Carey has been a place to enjoy nature, not recoil from its fury. The oldest cottage at the lake was built on the north shore in 1874 by Dr. T.J. Wheaton, Paula Radwanski, a volunteer with the Wyoming County Historical Society, who spent Wednesday helping with the cleanup, said. By July 1881, about 20 cottages were hugging the lakefront.

According to a historical-society publication marking the Wyoming County Sesquicentennial in 1992, Lake Carey is the second-largest natural lake in Pennsylvania. The 262-acre lake, which includes a flow pond, originally was known as Barnums Pond. Elijah Bamum owned a sawmill at the outlet of the lake as early as 1800. Mr. Barnum sold his business to Abel Marcy, and the Marcy family had an extensive lumbering business at the lake for many years.

Dorothy Colbenson, who has lived in Wyoming County for all of her 88 years, said wooden toys were manufactured at the lake. The lake eventually became known as Lake Carey, after Earl H. Carey, a blind man who maintained his title to the land under the lake. A five-mile boat race was inaugurated at Lake Carey on Labor Day 1934. The following year, a yacht club was organized by men who had summer homes at the lake.

A cottage belonging to Wallace Davis was leased as the clubhouse. Three passenger steamers Rosalind, Empress of the Lake and Lily of the Lake carried the prominent Tunkhannock and Wilkes-Barre families that came to play by the water. The Pollner House, built in 1877, was the fir6t of several hotels that sprang up to accommodate visitors. Wrigleys Grove at the nortbL-eastem end of the lake was the site of picnics by grangers and veterans associations. Mrs.

Colbenson, who volunteers at the historical society when she can, said she saw the devastation at Lake Carey on television. It just made me sick to look at it, she said. kv is so many people have gotten out and are safe, but we dont know about them, and were still looking, Molly Rodgers of the Wyoming Chapter of the American Red Cross said. They need to contact us and let us know theyre all right. By the middle of the afternoon, County Commissioner Ron Williams said only two people were confirmed dead, and rescue teams, including a canine unit, had found no others.

When county and state officials arrived, Ed and Julie Berk-ery offered their front lawn for a press conference held by Lt. Gov. Mark Schweiker. They began repairs on their own property while waiting for media representatives to gather on their lawn. This is a great place to see what happened, Ed Berkery said.

We didnt used to have this great view of the lake, but the storm blew down all of those trees out there. Mr. Berkery was in New Jer This home at Lake Carey sustained damage but managed to withstand the tornado that flattened homes on both sides of it. IT. e've all been through a lot.

We're all still Patty Bartsch Lake Carey resident sey doing work for his in-laws and did not return to his home until 6 a.m. Wednesday after he heard about the storm. His wife said she heard the roar pass the house. About 10 oclock, when the power went out, I ran out to the barn to check on the horse, she said. He was very upset and nervous about the whole thing.

I got everything closed up for him, then I went back in the house. It was shaking from the wind. I was pretty scared by then. By morning, the couple learned they would need to put on a new roof and repair water damage on a building near the house and found a steel door had been blown into the back of the house. A 400-pound backhoe bucket was tossed around like a sponge, Ed Berkery said.

The roof is gone from that building. The trees 200 feet away from the house are destroyed. But we have some vegetable plants in buckets sitting on the porch, and nothing happened to them. Boy! This was a weird one. The people: Few answers, many questions By Gina Thackara TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER LAKE CAREY They had survived a tornado.

They got their families to safety. And by noon Wednesday, they faced their toughest task: understanding what had happened. The clouds were parting Wednesday to reveal blue skies, a far cry from the windswept night that had rained devastation on this placid community. Memories of that night, like the destruction, will last for years to come. We heard the whole thing coming, Patty Bartsch said.

We saw the storm, and we were headed downstairs when my youngest got caught under the house. Mike Bartsch, 8, was trapped under a piece of the home that h2td been ripped off by the winds. a heroic effort, his 13-year-old toother, Jason, lifted off the wood, and the family spent the rest of the night in the basement waiting for daylight. Mike wasnt hurt, thank God, Mrs. Bartsch said, choking back tears.

But weve all been through a lot. Were all still shaking. In the parking lot in front of tfie small ice-cream stand on Route 29 near the lake, an Ed-wardsville summer-home owner Considered what a later-arriving tornado might have wrought. If school was out already, wed have been there, Bill La-moreux said. My wife, my mother-in-law, my granddaughter wed have been in that storm.

Mr. Lamoreux said he also was concerned about the people who live at the lake year round. Theyre all there. Lake Carey Mary. Bob.

The Fosters, he said. The worst part of this is not being able to find out whats happened to them. Are they all right? For the most part, people were all right, keeping it together under trying circumstances. Pat Carr, who also paced about the ice-cream stands parking lot, was one of the lucky ones. Our house wasnt touched, she said.

But the people next door had damage. A night of panic in the cellar By Stava Doland TRIBUNE REGIONAL STAFF LA PLUME Scream on cable, cool sleeping weather and a day off. Tuesday was just about a perfect night until the second wave of storms ripped through the area, including my back yhrdr -My mother called my sister and me with a panic-stricken voice as my father shouted move! to get us in the basement. In no time, I sat perched on an old spackle bucket in the basement on College Avenue, staring through the flickering light of an oil lamp into the eyes of my mother, father and sister. Unwanted visions of demolished houses and tattered lives-forced their way into my mind as I feared for the safety of the family- I sat there trying to remain calm as my pulse raced.

I strained to hear the freight train sound of a tornado so many victims speak of. I listened to the fear anj uncertainty in my mothers voice. Outside, howling winds were battering my neighborhood. yhen we emerged from the basement, that neighborhood was pitch black, and the rain had slowed to a drizzle. The fear subsided but did not disappear.

In the dark recesses of my mind, I pictured another rash of storms. We heard voices and saw flashlight beams dancing across Xm ll 'A and Blooming Grove, blocked entrance roads to the lake. They allowed workers on utility trucks and vehicles from the state Department of Transporta tion to make their way into the area for initial assessments of the damage and basic yoad cleaning. More than 200 rescue workers and National Guard members combed through the area in a house-to-house search for residents. Throughout the day, red-jacketed members of the Wyoming County Emergency Management Agency talked to each other by radio but refused access to anyone wanting to go into the devastated area.

The most difficult part of this mm A a i vc rf jj- flryS I A fX 114 MULLEN TRIBUNE STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER those? he asked. If you touch one of those. It could end your life. The tree that nestled my childhood tree house was split in two, with the half that held the tree house left intact. Keystone College was not spared.

Several of the large pines that dotted the small, picturesque campus were blown over or snapped in half. As I prepared for work Wednesday, the power was still out no television, no heat, no hot water. I thought I had it pretty bad, until I heard about what some of my neighbors had undergone. Maybe a cold sponge bath and no cable are not so bad after all. Pike County commissioners issue disaster declaration Mrs.

Carr, like so many of her neighbors and friends, wanted to start her own recovery effort. She was among nearly a dozen homeowners who had walked or driven out of the tornado-stricken area Wednesday morning. By early Wednesday, afternoon, however, many were frustrated at being kept away while rescue workers tried to make the area safe from downed lines and tree-blocked roads. They promised us we could go back to our houses, Mrs. Carr said.

But now, nobody will let us back in. State police officers from several barracks, including Dun-more, Wyoming, Shickshinny a d-X 4- 4 1 MICHAEL Susquehanna Lake Carsy F2or3 actoryviHe FI Jefferson Twp. Wyoming Monroe Twp. Wayne Lackawanna Greemown glooming Grove Pika tp 9 F0 pq Promised Pad Land Pond Luzerne 1 F2 F2 Monroe Resolution proclaiming the disaster cites the damage; says the severe storm has endangered the health, safety and welfare of a substantial number of persons. By Bob Tomaino TRIBUNE REGIONAL STAFF GREENE TWP.

The Pike County commissioners formally issued a disaster declaration Wednesday in the wake of severe tornado damage. Were already working In this mode, com--missioner Harry Forbes said. This is more of a formality than anything else. 1 Gov. Tom Ridge already had declared Pike and eight other counties disaster areas Tuesday.

That declaration did not depend on the county commissioners issuing a disaster declaration. The resolution proclaiming the disaster cites the damage as well as the fact that the severe storm has endangered the health, safety and welfare of a substantial number of persons residing in Pike County and threatens to create problems greater in scope than Pike County may be able to resolve. It directs the county Emergency Management Agency to take all actions necessary to respond to the disaster. Mr. Forbes said the heaviest property damage came in Greene and Porter townships, though trees were downed in other communities and a fire believed to have been caused by a lightning strike heavily damaged the AUtec-Lansing plant in Milford.

The commissioners adopted the resolution during a meeting at the township municipal building. Meanwhile, the shelter set up at the Promised Land Volunteer Fire and Ambulance Corps was expected to close Wednesday night, Marita W'en-ner of the Wayne Pike American Red Cross Chapter said. The chapter opened the shelter after the storm Sunday night, and she said Pennsylvania A barn owned by Keystone College had parts of its roof blown more than 200 yards away. Sunday tornadoes Tuesday tornadoes Power Light hoped to have electricity restored to the area by about midnight on Wednesday. Red Cross workers from the Carbondale-For-est City, Wyoming Valley and Scranton chapters had been on hand, but at least some of them, she said, have now gone to Wyoming County, where a tornado ripped through Lake Carey on Tuesday night.

The Promised Land shelter, which was staffed by members of the fire-company auxiliary and others, provided at least 1,000 meals to volunteers and residents during the three days it was open, she said, adding an estimated 15,000 homes were without electricity. Because most also rely on wells, they also were without water or sanitation. The shelter, she said, provided water and portable toilets as well as tarps for residents who needed to cover holes in roofs and walls. Ms. W'enner said she was unaware of any In-' Juries during either the storm or the continuing clean-up work, even though she has never seen a disaster locally of such magnitude.

She compared it to the blizzards of 1993 and 1996. Blizzards, she said, were cake compared to this. the yard when it was over. It became apparent that the electricity would be out for more than an hour. Several power lines were down, snaking across neighboring streets.

Rob Klinkel who lives on West La Plume Road, took it upon himself to warn passing motorists of the live wires. At one point his efforts became almost confrontational as a man insisted on walking past the wires. Where do you think youre going? Mr. Klinkel demanded. The man told him he was going to see his brother, and Mr.

Klinkel became more persistent. You see those? You see.