Moderate flooding expected along the Monongahela River
Scott Beveridge/Observer-Reporter
Houses were still taking on water Friday at Little Mingo and Ginger Hill roads near Finleyville.
Scott Beveridge/Observer-Reporter
The Monongahela River was high, muddy and swift Friday in the area of the Donora-Monessen Bridge.
Moderate flooding is expected early Saturday along the Monongahela River.
The National Weather Service expected the river to crest at 1 a.m. at 31.8 feet in Charleroi, a depth that is more than four feet above flood stage.
Water begins to enter basements in low-lying areas in Webster, Rostraver Township, when the river reaches 32 feet, a fire official there said.
The river was predicted to crest at 7 p.m. Friday at 21.6 feet at Grays Landing Lock and Dam in Greene County, with moderate damage possible. Flood stage there is 19.3 feet.
The service said the flooding was a result of an intense weather system that spread rain showers and thunderstorms across the region over 24 hours, beginning Thursday afternoon. Rainfall was significant, with totals ranging from 1.5 inches to nearly 3.5 inches. The runoff from these rains was resulting in significant rises on the region’s rivers and small streams.
Alicia Miller, a meteorologist at the weather service in Pittsburgh, said the rain tapered off in Pennsylvania Friday afternoon, but it was still falling at that time upstream of the Monongahela River in West Virginia.
She also said the service confirmed that a tornado touched down during the storm in Uniontown. It was an EF1 tornado with winds of 105 mph.Jeff Yates, Washington County’s public safety director, said two people were rescued by a swiftwater team from their flooded homes in the area of Little Mingo and Ginger Hill roads.
Emergency workers also rescued 15 people from vehicles that traveled into flooded roads across the county, Yates said.
“There were lots and lots of basements flooded,” he said.
High water also entered the first floors of six houses, Yates said.
“It was widespread,” he added.
Fire departments in the Mon Valley reported that Route 88 was flooded overnight in various locations from California Borough to the Finleyville area.
A string of other state and local roads were closed Friday because of the storm.
A rush of water from a hillside behind the New Eagle Volunteer Fire Department social hall caused water damage to the building’s interior and also washed out its parking lot along with Walnut Street at Chess Street, a borough official said.