STORMS CAUSE FLOODING
Rainfall totals top 4 inches in Montco; road closures, outages snarl region
A strong line of storms moved through the region Tuesday into Wednesday, bringing heavy rain and winds to the area as well as flooding and other storm damage.
In Perkasie, the area of the Dairy Queen became flooded Tuesday evening, with a vehicle getting trapped in the water around midnight. The driver was able to exit the vehicle and escape to safety without issue.
Similar incidents were reported during the storm across Bucks and Montgomery counties, along with widespread power outages. Multiple school districts either closed or operated on a delayed opening schedule Wednesday morning due to the flooding and hazardous road conditions.
With the grounds soaked and the high winds, multiple trees across the area fell, with one forcing the closure of Lansdale Avenue near Cowpath Road in Montgomery Township Tuesday evening, and another in Towamencin Township causing multiple blown transformers on Fretz Road near Allentown Road.
First responders were dispatched to that scene at 5:59 p.m. Tuesday for a report of an electrical fire outside. North Penn Now photographer Jimmy James, who was enroute to cover a road obstruction in Harleysville, observed flashes in the sky and drove to the scene. The photographer was able to record the transformer exploding prior to the arrival of emergency response personnel.
Fretz Road was closed in the area as Towamencin Police and crews from Towamencin and Hatfield fire companies worked to secure the scene.
In Montgomery County, 3,000 customers were without power, according to a PECO spokesperson.
There were 1,744 calls into the Montgomery County Department of Public Safety’s emergency operations center between 4 p.m. Tuesday and 8 a.m. Wednesday, according to Todd Stieritz, deputy director for public affairs with the Montgomery County Department of Public Safety.
Early reports from the National Weather Service’s Mount Holly, New Jersey office, indicate Montgomery County received more than 4 inches of rainfall, with 4.28 inches in Conshohocken, 4.11 inches in Norristown and 3.78 inches in King of Prussia. Wind gusts reached upwards
of 45 miles per hour in Lower Moreland Township, according to Stieritz.
Levels of the Schuylkill River and Perkiomen Creek were being watched closely Wednesday as public safety officials looked to localized flooding.
The Schuylkill River reached 16.23 feet in Norristown and is “still rising but appears to be plateauing,” Stieritz said Wednesday. In Pottstown, the river reached 12.17 feet, but is “still rising” and is expected at “minor flood stage,” he said.
The river was expected to crest by 1 p.m. with Norristown at “minor or moderate flood stage,” and Pottstown at “minor flood stage,” Stieritz said. Both should fall below flood stage overnight with levels normal by Thursday, he added.
The Perkiomen Creek at Graterford reached 13.26 feet when it crested at 5 a.m. The creek’s portion was reported at moderate flood stage, but Stieritz said Wednesday it “should fall below flood stage late this afternoon or early evening.”