Again, Darby Creek appears on the verge of flooding homes

Once a power source vital to the region’s economic growth, and once even a haven for yachts, Darby Creek remains a thoroughfare with some of the region’s lushest pastoral vistas. But it also is one of the country’s most flood-prone streams, a significant drain on the National Flood Insurance Program, and a national lesson in what can go wrong along a developed waterway. Worse for the thousands who live along its 26-mile course, from the border of Chester and Delaware Counties to the Delaware River, the Darby appears to be just a major rainstorm away from spilling over its banks yet again.