Making progress in Gilberton – wnep.com

The borough of Gilberton is starting to look somewhat normal again as floodwaters continue to go down.

GILBERTON, Pa. Floodwaters in Gilberton have receded dramatically since Saturday. Main street, which looked like a river last week, is finally starting to clear up.

"I feel bad for everybody in the community that this happened to, because this obviously isn't the first time," said Nick Anthony, Goodwill Hose Company.

Pumps are still running to clean up what's left, but in looking at where the water line was, so much progress has been made. For days, volunteers put in countless hours to try to save the borough. Now, those volunteers are receiving help back after working in tough conditions.

"They're at risk because they're in floodwaters, contaminated floodwaters with bacteria, and it's very important that they get the tetanus vaccine," said Gail Newton, LVH Schuylkill infection prevention coordinator.

Borough officials were concerned that the water grew contaminated, so Lehigh Valley Hospital - Schuylkill set up shop at American Hose Company No. 2 in Gilberton to offer volunteers free tetanus shots.

"We really aren't sure what's in the water. Any kind of runoff from the street. I know we did observe some oil in the water, garbage, debris, anything that could be a biological hazard to our people. So we're stressing that our folks need to wear the proper protection when they're around the water to limit any skin contact with the water," said Kathleen Gavala, West End Fire & Rescue.

"I was in the water pretty much all weekend, and I came in contact with it multiple times, so I was like like, 'well, they're giving them away, so you got to take advantage of it," said Anthony.

The American Red Cross also provided meals for cleanup workers in Gilberton.

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Making progress in Gilberton - wnep.com