Jim Harrold had been struggling for some time when Gayla Norelli spotted him in the Youghiogheny River Lake outflow. She pointed the fisherman out to her husband — it looked like he was in trouble.

The town of Somerfield is mostly lost to history, although some sidewalks, road curbs and foundations of houses are still visible within Yough Lake’s muddy bed. A severe drought this summer has turned ...