Region reeling from record rainfall
Heavy rain continued to fall across Western Pennsylvania Tuesday night into Wednesday, causing widespread flooding and evacuations of homes and prompting two municipalities to declare states of emergency.
On Tuesday, the National Weather Service Pittsburgh recorded 2.68 inches of rain, a record for April 2.
In Union Township, some residents had to be evacuated from their homes due to flooding. First responders also were busy answering calls for flooded basements and clearing debris from the heavy rains.
A tornado watch issued by the National Weather Service in Moon Township expired at 11 p.m. Tuesday, but a flood warning remained in effect until 10:45 p.m. Wednesday for Southwestern Pennsylvania, as numerous streams and creeks spilled from their banks.
Between 2 to 3.5 inches of rain had fallen since late Monday night and Tuesday, and more rain was expected through Wednesday afternoon, according to the NWS.
Over a four-day period, Washington had received 4.75 inches of rain as of Wednesday morning, while Graysville in Greene County had received 3.69 inches and Farmington in Fayette County had received 4.59 inches.
The rain caused closed roads and flooded basements throughout the region. At 7:25 a.m. Wednesday, state Department of Transportation District 12 announced a portion of about two dozen roads in Washington and Greene counties remained closed due to flooding, including parts of Route 18 in Center and Washington townships in Greene County and Route 980 in Cecil Township.
Washington County Department of Safety Director Jerry Coleman said municipalities in the Mon Valley area, including Elco, Deemston, West Pike Run, and Bentleyville, were hit hard by flooding overnight. Bentleyville Mayor Timothy Jansante declared a state of emergency in the borough.
Stanley Glowaski, Bentleyville council president, said the measure was taken for the safety of the residents.
“The water in some areas is high and a few of our roads are flooded on the eastern side of Bentleyville,” Glowaski said. “Many basements are flooded and the fire department has been busy pumping them out. Water was just about up to two bridges, and we were concerned that they would be covered. Richardson Park was covered.”
Flooding prompted the mayor of Brownsville to also declare a state of emergency.
“Most of us have been battling this the entire night,” said Mayor Ross Swords, who’s also a volunteer firefighter with Brownsville Fire Company No. 1.
On Wednesday morning, Swords said the borough’s fire departments pumped water out of 10 to 15 houses on the lower south side.
Swords said the 1500 block of Water Street was temporarily closed due to the amount of water on the roads, adding that water was coming out of the street’s manhole cover at one point.
He said the power had to be cut off and meters pulled from about five houses due to the danger posed by rising water.
Officials were waiting for water to recede to determine if a flooded bridge in Deemston Borough sustained damage, and Coleman said the department received reports of some roads being washed away.
“It appeared that last night, parts of our county were hit worse than during the day,” said Coleman. The department was compiling an assessment damage report to send to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to get funding for repairs for those municipalities.
Firefighters from Donora and Elrama were called to Union Township about 3 a.m. Wednesday to rescue people who were evacuated from their homes on Little Mingo Road and Ginger Hill Road.
“When we got there the roads weren’t flooded yet,” Elrama Fire Chief Lenny Bailey said. “We asked the homeowners to leave and of course they didn’t. As we were getting ready to leave, the creek came right up over the bank and flooded everybody out. We had to call the water teams in and get everybody out of the house.”
One of the teams was the Swift Water team from Donora Volunteer Fire Department. Donora Mayor Don Pavelko said there were 10 firefighters and three trucks on the call.
“They rescued three families from their houses and took them out by boat,” Pavelko said, adding that the borough’s firefighters were kept busy throughout the day. “There’s water problems all over the place.”
Bailey said many of those evacuated from their homes were taken in by family members. He said nobody was injured.
Michalle Dupree, chair of the Union Township supervisors, said a number of roads had to be closed in the township Wednesday. Airport and Courtney Hill roads were closed due to flooding, Lobb’s Run Road was closed because of debris on the road and Garvin Road was deemed impassable. Coal Bluff Road was closed due to a rockslide.
She also said a couple were rescued from their vehicle on Airport Road.
Charleroi Fire Chief Robert Whiten Jr., said rescue teams from his department, as well as Bentleyville, were called to Washington Township in Fayette County Tuesday evening to assist in shoring up and stabilizing a structure with a collapsed foundation.
“All of the rain pushed part of the foundation loose,” Whiten said. “They had to get underneath and support the foundation.”
Rich Policz, director of Greene County Department of Safety, said localized flooding and high water caused road closures, and on Tuesday and Wednesday, a handful of vehicles became stuck after driving into water on roadways.
“There were some vehicles that went into high water and got stranded, and there was a lot of basement pumping,” said Policz.
So far this year, rainfall in Pittsburgh is 4.76 inches above the 13.71-inch average rainfall, said NWS meteorologist Fred McMullen.
“You won’t have to cut your grass for a couple of days,” said McMullen, referring to the most recent rain event.
Chartiers Township Fire Chief Fred Simpson cautioned motorists to leave “road closed” barricades and signs in place, after orange cones placed on township roads were moved Tuesday afternoon.
“If emergency agencies have roadways closed off, there’s a reason they’re closed and people shouldn’t move barricades, even if it’s not attended. It doesn’t take a whole lot of water or speed of water for a vehicle to get swept up,” he said.
Cold weather is on the way, McMullen said, with temperatures forecast to be in the 40s and wind chills in the 30s – about 10 degrees below average – with a possibility of some snowflakes Thursday and Friday.
Paul Paterra and Mark Hofmann contributed to this report.