GoFundMe Launched For Yardley Neighbors' Flood Damages

YARDLEY, PA - A fundraiser started by a Yardley resident seeks to assist local families impacted by devastating flooding that destroyed homes and killed seven last week.

The online GoFundMe fundraiser, started by 22-year-old Alex Rishel, has raised over $9,000 as of Thursday morning. The funds will specifically be distributed to affected residents of Maplevale and Meadow Drive to aid home repairs and major appliance replacement after the July 15 rainstorm dropped six inches of rain in about 30 minutes, turning normally docile creeks into raging torrents and flooding numerous highways.

“On Saturday, July 15, 2023, the families in my small but close-knit 50-home neighborhood faced destruction from the worst flash flood most of us have ever experienced,” the fundraiser reads. “Water rushed in through the front doors of homes, cars were flooded and destroyed, kitchens and other appliances were destroyed by water and sewage, backyards were washed away, and multiple feet of water accumulated in garages and basements.”

Many of the homes in the neighborhood do not have flood insurance or even qualify for flood insurance, Rishel wrote, as the area isn’t designated as a floodplain.

“I feel so grateful to have been raised in this pocket of the Philadelphia suburbs. This neighborhood is special,” Rishel added. “We walk our dogs after dinner together, we know everyone by name, and we have each other's backs, but this is more than we can handle on our own.”

Yardley Borough as a municipality is not affiliated with any fundraising, but did share Rishel's GoFundMe page as a vetted fundraiser.

St. Ignatius of Antioch Catholic Church in Yardley has also set up an Emergency Fund, which will be administered by volunteers from the parish’s Social Action Committee and local Knights of Columbus Council. Donations are tax deductible.

You can visit the GoFundMe page here.