Soggy Saturday follows rainy Friday night
Flash flood warnings were in effect through Saturday afternoon for much of Western Pennsylvania after about 5 inches of rain caused widespread flooding, evacuations, rescues by swift water teams, closed roads, submerged cars, downed power lines and flooded basements.
Some regions in West Virginia were slammed even harder by the heavy rains, prompting Gov. Jim Justice to declared a state of emergency for counties in the state’s northern section.
In southwestern Pennsylvania, there were no major injuries reported. In Washington County, some people were treated for minor hypothermia from being in the cold water before being rescued.
Various parts of the region recorded around 5 inches over 24 hours, an unusually high amount of rain for such a short period of time in July.
“It’s pretty unusual this time of year,” said John Darnley, a
National Weather Service meteorologist. “We had a situation where the upper level flow stalled over us and was not moving. That is more like a winter weather pattern.
“Normally, in July and August, there’s a stationary boundary from Texas through Georgia and that boundary traps a lot of moisture in the southern states. That’s not happened, so we had a conveyor belt of moisture streaming up here through the Tennessee and Ohio valleys to our area.”
Among the hardest hit areas Friday night was Washington County whose Emergency Operations Center fielded about 650 calls for emergency assistance, said a 911 supervisor. The situation was still active shortly before 10 a.m. Saturday, he said, but the volume of calls had decreased.
One of the calls Saturday morning was to rescue a person from a house. On Friday night, there were about a half-dozen rescues, at least one from the roof of a car but others from residences.
Some roads remained closed in Monongahela, Carroll and Cecil and more than 100 basements were flooded.
In Fayette County, flash floods struck hard, causing flash flooding that closed some roads. At one point Uniontown received nearly 2 inches of rain in less than an hour Friday, and cars became submerged on Route 40 in front of the Stone House Restaurant in Chalk Hill, Wharton Township.
But most of that situation changed by Saturday morning.
“It’s mainly flooded basements now. There are a few roads here and there that are still blocked, but it’s mostly just basements now,” said Jodie Victor, a supervisor at the Fayette Emergency Operations Center.
In Allegheny County, a flood warning remained in effect until 1:15 p.m. Saturday, but other than some reports of basement flooding, nothing storm-related was active, a 911 shift supervisor said.
Areas affected by flooding included Pittsburgh, Penn Hills, Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park, Ross, McCandless, Monroeville and Moon, among other areas, the weather service reported.
In Greene County, flooding occurred in Waynesburg, Jefferson, Point Marion and Clarksville, among other areas. On Friday, 11 residents of South Gallatin Avenue were evacuated temporarily to the fire station and 78 residents of the Manor High Rise on East Main Street were evacuated to the community room.
The American Red Cross has mobilized teams of volunteers to assess residents’ needs in parts of Allegheny, Fayette and Washington counties. Resources will be provided as needed to people in those areas, the Red Cross said.
Anyone who needs to request Red Cross assistance due to localized flooding should call 888-217- 9599 and select option 1 to reach out dispatch center.
In West Virginia, the counties included in the governor’s Saturday morning state of emergency declaration were Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Marion, Monongalia and Harrison.
According to the governor’s office, state and county emergency officials evacuated some areas and the West Virginia National Guard was mobilized to help.
The National Weather Service reported that between 2 and 3.5 inches of rain fell over a flood warning area, including Morgantown, with many roads closed. Shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday, the service extended its flood warning for Marion County until 8:15 p.m.