A year after fatal flash flood in Upper Makefield: 'Time has not healed this wound'

For nearly a year now, a simple wood plaque has hung in the Upper Makefield Police Department.

“We are eternally grateful for the courage, determination and compassion you displayed during and after the fatal flash flood on July 15, 2023.”

The gift came from the Sheils family who lost three members in the unprecedented storm that resulted in the largest mass casualty event in Bucks County memory. The flood would claim the Sheils and four others, devastating a close-knit community.

The plaque serves as a daily reminder of those lost that day and the reasons why the officers chose jobs protecting the public, said Harry Vitello, one of the first people who waded into waist-high water strong enough to bend steel guardrails during the torrential summer rain a year ago.

First responders and township officials in Upper Makefield and the surrounding communities learned new lessons about emergency response, mutual aid, and disaster management during the the flooding and the 11 days that followed it.

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The physical damage the flash floods left behind has long been repaired. But hearts remain broken.

“You can speak to anyone in this community and they will take pause, they are emotional and upset about it,” Upper Makefield Supervisor Tom Cino said. “Time has not healed this wound.”

A summer storm stalled over Upper Makefield on that Saturday dropping 6 inches of rain in just two hours overwhelming the banks of normally serene seasonal waterways like Houghs Creek.

Nowhere was the flooding worse than a roughly one-mile stretch along Washington Crossing Road (State Route 532).

Nineteen people, and one dog named Koda, were in vehicles on the road when an angry wall of water crashed down steep embankments and consumed the route near Stonebridge Crossing Road.

Eleven people entered the debris-filled, fast-moving water. Seven were never seen alive again despite the near nonstop efforts of hundreds of first responders.

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The body of the youngest victim,  9-month-old Conrad Sheils, has not been found. His mother, Katie Seley , 32, and 2-year-old sister Matilda were also among the dead.

Seley’s mother, Dahlia Galindez, survived after she also was swept under a guardrail. An Upper Makefield Volunteer firefighter rescued Seley's fiance, Jim Sheils, and 4-year-old son.

The same firefighter helped in the rescue a woman trapped in her flooded car. Vitello carried the woman to the firefighter's SUV and positioned her on its hood so he could use his body to prevent her from sliding off.

The police officer then grabbed the push bar on the front bumper as the SUV slowly backed out of the rushing water onto dry land.

The rescue was his first in 27 years in law enforcement, Vitello said.  In the days that followed the tragedy, Vitello served as the liaison between the victims and local officials, an experience he described as the most emotionally intense of his career.

“I consider myself blessed to still be in contact with them today and to call them friends,” he said ahead of the anniversary. “There are so many private moments we shared that will stay with me forever. Not a day goes by that I do not think of them and their loved ones they lost. ”

Efforts are underway to ensure no one forgets the seven lives — beloved members of communities in Bucks County and beyond, who were simply traveling along a road when the unimaginable consumed them.

Recently the U.S. House approved renaming of the Washington Crossing Post Office after longtime employee Susan Barnhardt, who died in the flood. Her dog, Koda, was found two days after the flood wandering near the post office where his owner worked.

A memorial butterfly garden located in Brownsburg Park honoring the seven flood victims is in the early planning stages, Cino said.

“Anyone of us who were involved to this day are forever changed," he added.

Every week people still ask about the families, he said.

They want to know how they are doing and talk about how they pray for them, and the first responders, he said. A Go Fund Me campaign for the Sheils family has raised nearly $279,000 with the most recent donation made in May.

“Every time you go up that road, how can you not think of that?" Vitello said. “We are also fathers and mothers; sons and daughters; brothers and sisters; that combined with the sheer scope of the tragedy touched us all in one way or another.”

What first responders have learned from the Upper Makefield fatal floods

Upper Makefield has always taken stormwater management and flood preparedness seriously as development has increasingly shared space with swaths of mature woods, rough terrain, steep cliffs and the nearby flood-prone Delaware River.

But where the fatal flooding occurred last year never had a problem, so it wasn’t on anyone’s watchlist.

The experience has made longtime Upper Makefield Volunteer Fire Chief Tim Brewer and others pay closer attention to weather conditions and the potential for flooding.

Area first responders are now more aware of what specific outside assistance and assets are available during floods, and how the broader emergency response system works, Brewer said.

“The incident itself, we did pretty darn good for what we had,” he added. “If I had to do this over again, I’d do X instead of Y. Fine tuning, adjusting things.”

Swiftwater rescue training has become a higher priority, not only among firefighters, but police officers in towns on both sides of the Delaware River, Brewer said.

“Everyone is getting certified now,” he said.

Nearly 20 of the 24 active Upper Makefield volunteer firefighters have completed advanced training required to enter the water during rescues, Brewer said.

About 80% of Upper Makefield police officers also have completed the first of the three-part swiftwater certification program.

There is talk of cross training for public works and first responders in operating a newly purchased high-water firetruck and drones, equipment used during critical search and rescue operations.

The township has also purchased the fire company a Utility Terrain Vehicle that can be used to access areas where regular fire vehicles can’t go.

“We are much better prepared and much more aware,” Brewer said. “Most of my colleagues say the same thing: we have a much better understanding of what it's going to take to handle something like this.”

Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: A year after fatal flash flood in Upper Makefield: 'Time has not healed this wound'