Pennsylvania golf course flooded after heavy rain from nor’easter

DELAWARE, Penn. — Heavy rain from a nor’easter brought flooding Wednesday to Shawnee on Delaware, with the river expected to crest in the moderate flood stage.

The Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort was experiencing flooding over much of its golf course, as was the entrance in and out of the Inn.

As of 11:45 a.m. Wednesday, the Delaware River at Tocks Island had climbed to 22 feet and was expected by the National Weather Service’s Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service to crest at 23.1 feet, just into moderate flood stage, around 2 p.m.

That would be comparable to a crest of 23.21 feet after Hurricane Irene in August 2011.

Jonathan Kirkwood, executive director of the Shawnee Institute, was on site and said water had already made its way into the brewery building (previously the Pocono Ice Arena), but wasn’t expected to get to the Inn. He said it’s the usual “preparing and juggling things around when the river rises, and our third golf bridge to go out this year.”

Diane Tharp, executive director of the North Delaware River Watershed Conservancy (NorDel) and educational director of Shawnee Institute, was watching the Delaware River rise.

“It was coming up at 4 inches an hour earlier this morning, then decreasing to 3 inches an hour and so it will continue to decrease until it crests at around 2 p.m.,” she said. “We are fortunate that the New York reservoirs aren’t spilling like they did during the floods of 2004, 2005 and 2006.”

Tharp said after the floods of 2004 through 2006, most homes along the river were raised and may only see water in their basements at this expected flood level.

Further south, Minisink Park was completely under water. The soccer fields, parking lot, children’s playground, recreation building and walking trails were all flooded with no access. Portable toilets were floating in the water.

“Over the past 48 hours, many locations in the basin north of Philadelphia have received between 3-5 inches of rain with higher amounts in the upper basin and along the main stem,” the Delaware River Basin Commission noted Wednesday morning.

Monroe and Pike counties generally received about 3 to 5 inches, according to the NWS Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center (MARFC).

More rain is on the way, according to the NWS MARFC. Fortunately for the Poconos, higher totals are expected south of the region, with about an inch expected for Monroe County by Saturday morning and totals decreasing to the north.

Monroe County had a wet summer, experiencing three tropical storms in less than a month. Rainfall from Tropical Storms Fred and Henri contributed to Stroudsburg’s third-wettest August on record, with the remnants of Hurricane Ida following close behind at the start of September.