HELLAM TOWNSHIP, YORK COUNTY, Pa. -- Governor Tom Wolf stopped in Hellam Township, York County this afternoon to take a look the damage caused by heavy rains Friday.
He said he came to the area for a few reasons: to see the physical destruction for himself and to see what more can be done by state leaders in Harrisburg.
He stopped at River Drive in Hellam Township - where part of the road is gone, a neighbor's driveway is gone, and trees have been downed and moved by last week's heavy rainfall.
As Governor Wold said on his tour, the damage in that part of York County is pretty unbelievable.
When he first arrived, he met with neighbors and even made some jokes, but he was here on business, looking to see just how much last week's flash flooding hurt York County and what more the state can do about it.
"We're working, doing a lot of angles. One of the things is to help the local municipalities recover. They need funding so the federal government is a source of funding. The state has some limited means," explained Governor Wolf.
He spoke with long-term homeowners on River Drive, people like Paul Nevin, who nearly lost the home he's been living in on River Road for 33 years.
Nevin's daughter was inside at the time of the storm and described the flooding as something they've never experienced before.
"The water came about two feet below the living space. She said she saw waves actually coming up above the porch, but it didn't get inside the house. It took the entire back foundation out and about twenty feet of the side of the foundation," explained Nevin.
There's now trees down all over his property and even on top of his house. Part of River Drive is gone, and the next door neighbors have lost their driveway. Nevin says it's either smile, and he says he's choosing to smile
"It's awesomely beautiful, and it can be awesomely just unbelievably fierce," he explained.
One of the things state leaders are trying to do is see if they can combine all three floods from this summer as one event to secure federal funds to help with this cleanup.
York County officials are urging people to report their damage so they can get a true cost of the storm's damage.
You can do so here.