By Meghan Finlayson

Writer

Some downtown businesses and students are still feeling the effects of the flooding two weeks ago. Residences on Sixth Street were severely damaged and many students are homeless.

“Our house started flooding on that Wednesday morning … once [the creek] overflowed there was at least six feet of water,” Brian Barron ’13 said.

The entire basement collapsed and they lost many valuable items. “My housemates and I were at water polo practice when our house got condemned, so all of our school stuff, laptops, clothes and everything were in the house. We weren’t allowed in the house from Wednesday evening until Saturday morning when the curfew ended,” he said.

Barron and his housemates have been relocated to the Seventh Street House.

“Our property manager is doing everything possible to get us back into our house, but I’m not sure how long that’ll take,” Scott Glass ’13 said.

According to the Daily Item, Michael Purcell, the owner of the Sweet Shoppe, the Bull Run Inn and Puirseil’s Irish Pub, is dealing with damaged air handling systems and heating systems.

“The restaurant itself was fine, but the basement, oil heaters, and our last five years of decorations for holidays were destroyed” said Pursell.

Brady Fisher, owner of the Towne Tavern, is dealing with basement damage to his water heater as well. These cost about $9,200 to replace.

Unfortunately, some of the heating systems weigh about four tons, and many store owners felt helpless. “There was nothing we could have done” Pursell said.

Luckily, the worst is over and many places did not have serious damage. “The worst is that we do not have heat for tenants upstairs” said Pursell.

Zelda’s has also suffered from the flood and will remain closed until further notice. The Bucknellian was unable to reach out to any of the owners for comment.

In order to help victims of the flooding who are suffering major losses, students have been working with the Red Cross and the Office of Civic Engagement has been collecting donations in the Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library.