Wissahickon Fared Better During Irene Than During Past Storms

The Wissahickon sustained plenty of damage during Hurricane Irene, but not as much as it did during previous storms.

That's according to Friends of the Wissahickon (FOW) Executive Director Maura McCarthy, who said the park was "very lucky."

"It could have been significantly worse," McCarthy said.

Forbidden Drive between Wise's Mill Road and Valley Green received the bulk of the damage. The city's Parks and Recreation Department, however, was on top of things there very quickly, according to McCarthy, and things were cleaned up fairly rapidly.

The department, McCarthy said, also was quick to work on tree removal there. There were lots of trees down throughout the park, and many of them have been removed.

But there are still areas where additional work needs to be done. McCarthy said Thursday she counted 25 places that need remediation.

One of them is a composting toilet at Rex Avenue whose composting chamber became flooded. That needs to be fixed by electricians.

The trailhead at Bells Mill Road, McCarthy said, is prone to flooding as well. There are other areas that will require more work than usual.

Valley Green Inn, which is also in a troublesome spot, lost electricity and phone access but reopened earlier this week, according to McCarthy. The parking lot there did sustain some damage.

"I would expect that the majority of the stuff on this list is going to be handled in the next couple of weeks," McCarthy said.

One of the big differences between this storm and others, though, is that FOW was prepared for it.

There can often be lots of tree damage from an unanticipated day of heavy winds, and flooding damage can happen during non-major events.

Things were worse seven years ago.

"This is definitely not as bad as the storms of 2004," McCarthy said. Neither of those storms were hurricanes.