It is with regret that we are sharing the below letter from our friends at the Bucks County Academy of Fencing, explaining the devastating flooding from Hurricane Irene that is forcing them to temporarily close their Lambertville facility.  Local husband & wife owners, Mark Holbrow & Lisa Martini, have taught the community to fence for thirty years, recently expanding to a second location in Hatfield.  We look forward to their speedy recovery.

If anyone is able to offer help in finding a temporary location for fencing classes or any assistance in rebuilding, please contact BCAF at lisa@bcaf.com.

To our fencers, family, and friends,

We are very sad to inform you that classes & lessons at BCAF have been suspended until further notice.

Last night, Coryell Creek, which runs down from the mountain from across the street of the academy, was running overly high.  There are rumors that there was a mistake in the release of too much water from one of the reservoirs, but we know very little yet.

The water, passing under the back room of the academy, rose to the point where it impacted the wall in front of my back workbench.  The pressure from the water imploded the wall with great force, and a torrent of water entered the academy from the back rooms and proceeded to fill the ENTIRE 10,000 sq. ft. – back rooms, Great Hall and South Hall – like a bathtub.  The water rose to about 3 feet, at which point the hydrostatic pressure blew out parts of the back wall and back doors, and the torrent flowed out into the back parking lot.  We found the 300 lb vending machine in the canal.

As you can see from the pictures, the destruction is devastating to say the least.  We asking your help in finding a temporary location to run classes and will be up and running at some capacity as soon as possible.

We do have flood insurance that will cover the cost & labor of replacing the floor, but all of the other contents (refrigerator, chairs, and the instructors’ equipment) have all been lost. Our landlord has flood insurance that will cover the building structure. We are thankful no one was hurt in this violent incident.

We will be trying to do some clean up this coming week & should be able to salvage most of the masks, foils, & jackets (all need a good washing). Most of Lambertville is still without phone service/power & our home office is as well, so communication will be difficult the coming week. We will hopefully be able to check email once a day at a remote location.

Please feel free to share this information as you never know where a solution may present itself.

Your patience and support during this most difficult time is very much appreciated.

Hope to be in touch soon,

Mark & Lisa 

UPDATE 9/16/11:

BCAF's temporary location:

One Riverstone Circle
New Hope, PA 18938
(We are located within the St. Martin of Tours school building, which is BEHIND St. Martin’s Church on West Bridge Street)

See pictures of what their beautiful 10,000 square foot facility looked like before Irene here.

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