Hurricanes hit the United States every year but it's not often people in western Pennsylvania prepare for the storm to hit in their back yard.

But that's exactly what Keystone Blind Association workers were doing Wednesday at the agency's building on Dayton Way in Sharon. The building is used as a work center for microfilming and preparing mailings and for Keystone's vending machine operation.

"We've had five floods this summer already. We're anticipating that No. 6 is likely on the way," said Jonathan Fister, KBA's chief executive officer. "We're recognizing that we're going to be at risk this weekend."

Everything that could be moved from the floor was, and, in the past, if stacking objects on one pallet wasn't high enough to keep things out of the flood waters, this time they're being stacked on two or three pallets, Fister said. He said sandbags were placed around the doors.

"We've learned a lot from the first five floods. We've already relocated all electrical outlets and plugs higher, and the phone lines have been elevated," Fister said. "We've really had to redesign a lot of the inside of the building."

Besides water flowing from outside the building during heavy rain, water also backs up through the storm sewers and causes problems, Fister said.

The storm sewers are antiquated and can't handle large amounts of water, especially in flash floods, Fister said.

Flooding in the past few years hasn't been as bad as it was this summer. "I can't tell you that this will happen next year or the following year, but we're certainly on alert," Fister said.

"Our maintenance crews are very adept now at power washing, squeegying, sponging and wiping to get us back in operation," Fister said. "We prepare for the worst because we expect the worst will happen. At least this time we have advanced notice."

If there's been a good side to KBA's water woes, it's that the agency's board of directors invested in flood insurance after the first flood several years ago. Fister said it's been "an absolute Godsend ... but we're not interested in the insurance money as much as we are protecting our ability to go in the next day and work the way we would."

"We are just the victim of a very unfortunate, serious phenomenon," Fister said.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Kristen Garrett at kgarrett@sharonherald.com

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