Saturday - November 5: With help provided by the USDA Disaster Services Agency Wellsville Volunteer fire fighters cleared the flood levies along the banks of the Ohio this past Saturday. The DSA lined up members of the Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief Chain Saw Crew to assist in the project.
Built in the 1940s by the US Army Corp of Engineers, the flood levy was turned over to Wellsville and the city was given the responsibility of maintaining them. Over the years they have been overgrown with trees and brush. According to WFD Chief Bill Smith that is prohibited and proposes a threat to the effectiveness of the levy. The levy along the lower portion of the village was constructed using special material that resists erosion. If not properly maintained the village could possibly face disastrous flooding such as happened in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
The SCBO Chain Saw crew showed up with 12 - 15 men and seven or eight chainsaws. They started at 8 o'clock in the morning and by the end of the day Saturday all the trees on the levy were cut and piled up. What they accomplished along with the fire fighters in one day would have taken months to do without their assistance. Stumps from some of the larger trees will have to removed and refilled.
It was labor intensive work on a cold & snowy day. Now that it is done the levy will continue to prevent costly damage caused by the occasional flooding for decades to come.
Here I thought that levy was just plain old dirt piled along the banks of the river.
ole nib
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