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Rain to send Monongahela River above flood stage Moderate flooding damage expected

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Part of the new Monongahela kayak launch is tangled among debris at the aquatorium as the Monongahela River rose rapidly from heavy rains.

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The American Red Cross set up an emergency shelter Saturday at New Eagle Volunteer Fire Department Social Hall after overnight flooding forced people from their homes.

MONONGAHELA – Parts of a new kayak launch in Monongahela are believed to have broken free and become tangled among debris Saturday as the Monongahela River swelled to above flood stage because of heavy rain across the region, beginning Friday afternoon.

Other portions of the newer boat docks beside Noble J. Dick Aquatorium broke free and were in the muddy river near Elizabeth, said Terry Sebben, president of the group that holds concerts at the riverfront stage.

“It’s nasty,” Sebben said, describing the river in Monongahela where other pieces of docks and debris moved quickly in the currents beside the aquatorium.

“I’ve seen worse,” Sebben said.

The National Weather Service Saturday afternoon predicted the Mon River would rise to near 35.3 feet, about seven feet above flood stage by early today.

Backwater flooding of this type along Pigeon Creek in Monongahela sends water up to 4.5 feet in businesses in the lowest building in Peno’s Plaza on Park Avenue, and up to 6 feet in nearby Armstrong Park, the weather service said.

The predictions steadily rose throughout the day Saturday, going from levels that would cause minor damages to those that result in moderate damages.

The Belle Vernon Volunteer Fire Department urged residents of low-lying areas to move their belongings to higher ground.

Flooding was already occurring at Second and Water Street Saturday afternoon in that Fayette County borough.

Middle Street was under water that afternoon in West Brownsville in Washington County, said Todd King, the borough’s fire chief.

King said he expected the flooding to become worse than predicted.

“We’re taking it hour by hour,” King said.

He said the fire department was called to boat docks after a man became trapped under them while attempting to get his jet ski out of the river.

The man, whose identity wasn’t immediately known, was not injured, but “he was exhausted from treading water for an hour,” King said.

He also said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened all of the dam gates at Locks and Dam No. 4 in Charleroi because of the rising water.

Dave Corwin, a shift leader with Locks and Dam No. 4, said the river had been shut down to navigation at Lock 3 just before 11 a.m. Saturday. He said that Lock 4 stopped their operations just after 2:15 p.m.

“The water is coming up on our walls,” he said.

Corwin said California Boat Club, a restaurant that once floated on a barge in the river in the borough of Coal Center, had been swept away in the high waters Saturday. The boat club had already sunk in May after the barge had developed a hole. Corwin said, with the high water and the current of the river, they could not do anything to corral it.

“We can’t do anything with that,” he said. “We believe the barge is still there.”

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