Officials urged to find regional solution to flooding

Susan Abbott, the sister of Wendy Abbott, an Upper St. Clair woman who was killed in the June 20 flash flood that inundated the South Hills, made an emotional plea Monday night for Bridgeville to work with other communities to prevent another deadly flash flood from occurring in the McLaughlin Run watershed. Wendy Abbott, 64, was driving on McLaughlin Run Road near Morrow Road when her car got stuck due to the flood from the storm, Upper St. Clair officials said.

Police believe Ms. Abbott got out of her car and tried to walk to her home when she was swept away.

Her body was found the next morning.

“My sister wasn’t far from home. She got out of her car in the pouring rain to walk home, and was sucked into a four-footwall of water going 50 miles per hour,” Ms. Abbott said in remarks Monday to the Bridgeville Planning Commission. “Her body was found two miles away, behind the Bridgeville Volunteer Fire Department. This must never happen again.”

Ms. Abbott said that though it is too late for her sister, “this is a long-term problem that must be solved.

I care very much about this. Upper St. Clair and Bridgeville must work together to solve this problem. Imagine if it was your sister, wife or mother who was killed.”

Flooding has been a persistent problem for years along McLaughlin Run with most of the property damage concentrated in Bridgeville, which is downstream from Upper St. Clair and Bethel Park, but the June 20 flood was different in terms of how quickly the water