Devastating Flooding - Help Black Cat Rebuild!

On Wednesday, 9/1/2021, the city of Bridgeport and Montgomery County announced that the Schuykill River would exceed 28' in full crest, and that residences and businesses nearest the river should evacuate.

At around 7:45pm, heavy rain began and we experienced minor pooling in the middle of our parking lot - downhill from our parking spaces directly in front of our entrance.

We left for the evening, and monitored our security cameras. By 1:30am, the water level rose up into our parking spots, and continued to rise approximately two feet every thirty minutes.

As we watched the water quickly approach our door on the cameras, we left our house and drove toward the facility with the plan of saving as much valuable equipment and personal belongings as possible. With the help of friend (shout out to CR!), we arrived to Bridgeport and parked behind our facility on the other side of the tracks. On our way in, we walked through water that was hip high on Coach Leigh - about 3'. When we got through our front door, water was already spilling into our waiting room, and onto the turf through the back door.

We spent about thirty minutes getting as much equipment and belongings up high, and upstairs into the office, before emergency personnel evacuated us. Our walk back to the car was easily in over 4' of water, as we helplessly watched emergency crews evacuate residents on Third St. in blow up life boats.

By 6:45am, the water reached it's highest point - about 2.5 feet high on our front door...

...and by 10:30am on Thursday, 9/2/21, the water finally began to recede.

As of 2:00pm on Thursday, 9/2/21, we have been given permission to access our facility. We're heading up there shortly to assess the damage, and will update everyone as we gain more information.

We turned off our electricity in an effort to prevent extensive electrical damage, and therefore lost access to our cameras. We'll post updates as we're able to get them.

We're deeply sad about this event, and we hope you know that we appreciate you all. We have no expectations for financial contributions - emotional support and a helping hand go an extremely long way. Coach Leigh and Coach Jen are fighting to create a financial plan to handle the damage and loss of income, and we look forward to the day we can put this all behind us.