Motorists rescued from flooded roads

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Public safety crews rescued six people from vehicles trapped in flash flooding Thursday afternoon, Pittsburgh officials said.

The rescues came amid a heavy downpour that dropped up to 1½ inches of rain in parts of Allegheny, Westmoreland and Washington counties.

The rain, caused by the passage of a cold front, flooded roads throughout the region. The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh issued a flash flood warning that lasted about an hour.

“[R]adar indicated showers and thunderstorms along a line extending from near Fox Chapel to Sturgeon-Noblestown,” the weather service said in a statement. “Movement was southeast at 20 mph. Torrential rainfall is occurring with this line and may cause localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways.”

Despite the warning, vehicles were trapped in several communities.

In Pittsburgh, crews rescued two people in the 2300 block of Idlewood Road in East Carnegie and one person each from the intersections of Banksville Road at Potomac Avenue in Banksville, Route 51 and Edgebrook Avenue in Brookline, Glass Run Road and Mifflin Road in Hays, and Morange Road at Chartiers Avenue in East Carnegie.

Pat Herald, a meteorologist with the weather service, said it should be dry in the immediate Pittsburgh area Friday.

The chance for rain returns over the weekend, however, when a warm front coming through the region will spike temperatures into the 80s.