'We Lost Everything': Relive One Upper Dublin Man's Harrowing Experience Surviving Ida

UPPER DUBLIN, PA — Brian Sharkey has control over the safety of youngsters as they cross intersections in Upper Dublin Township.

But the part-time crossing guard is completely powerless against Mother Nature.

He found this out the hard way when a tornado spawned by Hurricane Ida completely demolished his home in the Stuart Creek townhouse development.

It’s now been just over two weeks since powerful storms tied to Hurricane Ida wreaked havoc across Upper Dublin Township, one of the hardest hit municipalities in Montgomery County.

“We lost everything,” Sharkey told Patch in an interview.

A True Community

Sharkey’s family moved to Upper Dublin back in the 1950s when he was in third grade. He lived in Souderton from 1972 to 1994, but then relocated back to Upper Dublin.

Now 73 years old and a retired postal carrier, Sharkey was enjoying his part-time work as a local crossing guard, helping kids cross the intersections outside of Sandy Run Middle School and Maple Glen Elementary School, when his life was turned upside down.

“We had no warning,” Sharkey said about the tornado that came through Upper Dublin on Sept. 1, taking with it power lines, trees, and, unfortunately for Sharkey, even some homes.

“I looked up and said, ‘where’s my house.’ There was nothing,” Sharkey said about that fateful day.

Sharkey moved back to Upper Dublin back in the mid-1990s because he views it as a true community, where neighbor helps neighbor. That has proven true recently, when Sharkey and his wife, Sharon, have been the recipients of good deeds in the form of food, clothing and other donations by fellow residents.

Sharkey considers himself to be a generally “jolly” person, but says he cannot help to become overwhelmed with emotion when receiving the help of the community.

‘Rough Couple Weeks’

In the days since the intense storms blew through Upper Dublin, local officials have been scrambling to put things back in order.

The tornado ripped off the roof of the local municipal complex, which houses both government offices and the police station. Government offices are now operating out of space at a nearby office park while the police department has relocated to space inside the new township library.

Francis Wheatley, Upper Dublin’s police chief, said the community is continuing to deal with the fallout from the storms, and likely will be for some time.

“It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the township, with the disaster from the storm,” Wheatley said.

Wheatley said he feels deeply for those like Sharkey and his wife, as well as others who experienced significant damage from Hurricane Ida. He said another township resident, an unnamed parks and recreation department employee, also lost a home in the storm.

“Everybody’s going to have a story, and it’s heartbreaking,” Wheatley said.

Wheatley said these stories hit home because he is not just police chief, but also an Upper Dublin resident who cares deeply about the community. He is overcome when he sees just how much people care about their neighbors in this township.

“They’re just good people,” he said of locals.

‘We’re Alive

Sharkey, the crossing guard who lost his home, recalls the harrowing moments Hurricane Ida came through the region. He was in his house with his wife and their 18-year-old grandson, Aaron Frame, when he tornado hit (they have helped raise the grandson in their home since the boy was 6).

Sharkey remembers the chaos of the moment – trying to get everyone to the basement, then having the basement door slam incredibly hard on his arm.

The shocker was emerging from the basement after the tornado passed.

“Mother Nature … she can get really mad at you really quick,” Sharkey said upon realizing his entire home was demolished.

Thankfully, the structure was a townhouse, Sharkey said, otherwise his wife might have died in the tornado. The cinder blocks acting as a firewall between the home and the attached house actually saved Sharon from being crushed by the collapsing second floor, Sharkey said.

The couple lost it all – family photos, important documents like birth certificates and Social Security cards, vehicle titles. Everything.

Getting their life back in order will be tough. The insurance company put them up at the Residence Inn in nearby Horsham, another community that got hit hard by the storms.

Still, Sharkey is keeping things in perspective.

“We’re alive, that’s the most important part,” he said. “Everything else can be replaced.”

Never Ignore Again

Sharkey half-joked about how people are now calling Pennsylvania the new Kansas, given the state’s recent bout with tornadoes.

He recalls getting some tornado warnings in Pennsylvania throughout the decades, but nothing ever seemed to materialize. Sharkey will never again take things lightly.

“We’ve gotten warnings left and right, but I always blew them off,” he said. “But I said I’ll never blow them off again.”

Asked about the comments from Wheatley, the police chief, on how everyone in the community has been there for each other during this difficult time, Sharkey had nothing but praise.

Wheatley, Sharkey said, is a great public servant who truly cares about the community.

And the two fellow township residents know each other well – when Sharkey worked for the Postal Service he delivered Wheatley’s mail, and when Sharkey retired from his job as a mail carrier, Wheatley and his wife threw Sharkey a retirement party.

For now, Sharkey and his wife, who also lost their two vehicles in the storm, are merely trying to piece their lives back together. And despite the heartache, they’re doing so with their heads held high.