Coming Back from Nature’s Wrath
Published on January 22, 2026
When the flood water receded in November 2024 and Yough Lake settled into an uneasy calm, the damage was impossible to ignore. What had been a bustling marina in the heart of the Laurel Highlands in southwestern Pennsylvania, lay twisted, torn and flipped with 25% of the docks destroyed.
The flooding followed a long list of weather events that impacted Yough Lake Marina in 2024. That April, excessive rains raised water levels, submerging the marina’s lower parking lot and threatening to float stored boats right off their trailers. Summer and fall whiplashed to drought, bringing a 40-year low to water levels that resulted in the first closure before Labor Day in the marina’s history.
The Wrath of Mother Nature
But something else happened during the flood. The river carved a new, much larger channel that undercut the shore end of the docks. Then a foot of snow, immediately followed by almost an inch of rain, fell into the drainage basin. Flood waters rushed into the lake with incredible force, raising the water level by almost 18 feet in one week.
“Almost all the damage was done with 3 feet of water rise that occurred during the night of November 23-24, 2024,” said Steve Leskinen, principal shareholder and president of Leskinen Enterprises, Inc. “I was almost physically sick when I saw what had happened, but I kept telling myself: ‘Nobody got hurt, and nobody died.’ It happened at night while no one was there. It was just property damage.”
Leskinen noticed how the water was moving about a week before the damage and in retrospect wonders if he should have anticipated that the river channel could move.
“I thought we might lose some decking or flotation, but I never thought the water would drag anchors, twist and tear heavy steel frames, flip entire sections of docks and send debris 8 miles downstream.”
“We posted on Facebook the next day that we intended to be open for business as usual when the season came around,” he explained. “Fortunately, with a lot of effort from a lot of people, and a pretty substantial investment of money, we were able to live up to our promise.”
Leskinen found a silver lining in the unexpected project. Since many of the destroyed docks would have been up for replacement in the next few years, marina workers were able to design and build replacement docks to accommodate newer, larger boats.
Rebuilding a Legacy
Located in the southwest corner of Pennsylvania and the western end of Maryland, the Youghiogheny River Lake is known for its pristine water and is one of the best watersports lakes in the Northeast. Leskinen’s family has owned the marina since his father, “Big” Al Leskinen, purchased it in 1969.
The team began recovery efforts in bitterly cold and windy weather, finding portions of docks that had drifted as far as 8 miles downstream toward the dam. Once the lake thawed, all damaged docks were removed during a
blessing of warm and sunny weather between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
“When I started as an employee at the marina, docks were built from local white oak timber,” Leskinen said. “Some of the flotation was empty 55-gallon drums, and anchor cables were made from used elevator cable that rusted through in three to four years.”
Trial and error and gained experience brought a modular system to the marina that is tough and durable, utilizing square steel tubing, encased foam flotation, treated Southern yellow pine decking and stainless steel anchor cables. Now, the knowledge of how the river channel can move and destroy docks has led to relocating docks during the off-season to the middle of the lake.
“The docks are high and dry in the late fall, when the lake elevation is down and the water is fast-running,” Leskinen explained. “We will still be vulnerable if Mother Nature decides to change the course of the river, and I’m a little nervous at this point, but the way we’ve ganged the docks together and rotated them to line up with the current should make them less vulnerable to the water flow.”
“It would be very complicated and extremely costly to remove them every year,” he said. “Imagine dumping a 400-piece Lego set where each piece weighs over a thousand pounds. We have only had this type of destruction once in 56 years. Leaving the docks in is a calculated risk. We hope we are calculating well.”
The rebuild unfolded in phases. First came clearing and stabilization: retrieving wreckage of docks that had been torn away and waiting for the water to rise to the launch ramp. Next came hauling the dock sections into the parking lot, where marina workers could triage by deciding what needed minor work and what couldn’t be saved. A temporary welding shop was set up for repairs while another was opened for painting, flotation attachment, and deck and railing installation.
“Success has many parents; failure is always an orphan,” Leskinen said. “We just had to take it one step at a time. Lots of people, including my sons, two current employees, two former employees, and a long-time dock customer who volunteered his time, were involved in recovery and removal.
Necessity was the mother of innovation in this case,” Leskinen added. “We found that the hinges and cleats we had manufactured ourselves could be produced by outside suppliers with plasma tables faster, better, and ultimately cheaper. After attending the 2024 Docks Expo and Marina Conference in Nashville last December, we learned that other parts, such as anchor cable guides, could be purchased better and cheaper than we could make them.”
Rather than merely rebuilding what had existed, the marina team focused on ways to increase customer satisfaction even in the face of such unexpected devastation.
“Of course, we want a place that is welcoming since we are a working man’s marina, really,” Leskinen explained. “We were happy to get the docks back together in time to start the season and give our regular customers, as well as seasonal guests, the boating experience they want. People have been in love with Yough Lake since it was created.”
Improvements Continue
Leskinen said those involved with the marina are working toward more improvements as they move forward. Those include offering kayaks and paddleboards, better picnic facilities on shore, added jet ski docks, improved shore lighting and electrical services and possibly solar-powered dock lighting.
Yough Lake Marina doesn’t consist of just slips and fuel. It’s a hub for boaters and families. While the water that destroyed docks didn’t affect other businesses, those business owners and customers were quick to offer help, with even former employees showing up to lend a hand.
“We have a lot of friends in the community. We couldn’t have done it without the whole crew we had,” Leskinen said. “This year we were just happy to be here.”
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