Published: July 08, 2007 11:04 pm      

Faces of the Flood: 'They wanted to rebuild. This is their home'

Latest in a series on the 1977 Johnstown Flood

Ed Cernic Sr. had been warned that he should not expect much time with President Jimmy Carter.

But in the aftermath of the 1977 Johnstown Flood, the West Taylor Township resident traveled to Washington, D.C., with hopes of landing federal aid for local businesses.

He got the answer he was looking for.

“I said, ‘How soon can we expect help for these people, because they’re in dire need,’ ” Cernic recalled. “(Carter) said, ‘You’d better hurry home.’ ”

Cernic was a lobbyist with a strong sense of purpose. His Cooper Avenue home and businesses – a towing company, a cycle shop and a gas station – were badly damaged when swirling water overtook the area on the night of July 19.

“Motorcycles were floating in the showroom,” Cernic recalled.

While his family prepared to flee, Cernic was nearly swept away when he accidentally backed his brand-new Ford Thunderbird into the torrent.

He gunned the engine and somehow escaped.

“You talk about an event that scares the life out of you,” he said.

Cernic, his wife and two of his sons spent the night on a hillside.

The next morning, he ventured into the nearby Tanneryville community and witnessed the wrath of the storm firsthand: Homes and entire families had disappeared after Laurel Run Dam gave way.

“It was just chaos,” Cernic said.

But he says he never doubted Tanneryville’s ability to rebound from the disaster. Within weeks, Cernic was heading the Tanneryville Flood Recovery Association.

“There was no bickering, no fighting when we were organizing out here,” he said. “Everybody knew there was one common denominator.”

The group, Cernic said, raised $126,000 for the community’s residents.

“People wanted to go. They wanted to leave Tanneryville,” he said. “We figured if they had help rebuilding that they would stay. And they did.”

That effort gave rise to the larger Southern Allegheny Flood Recovery Association, which Cernic also headed.

The group, covering four counties, worked closely with state and federal officials in an attempt to direct aid to those affected by the flood.

“You’re always more powerful in numbers,” Cernic said. “If there’s only a few people, they just brush you aside.”

Cernic eventually reopened his businesses with the help of more than $200,000 in federal loans.

But while governmental assistance played a vital role in the Johnstown area’s recovery, Cernic believes there was a much larger force at work in 1977.

“You give credit to the people – they wanted to rebuild. This is their home.”