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Upper St. Clair woman killed in South Hills flooding

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Courtesy of Bridgeville Police Department

Flooding is shown on Baldwin Street in Bridgeville in June 2018. Several roads in the South Hills were closed after flash flooding as a heavy storm moved through the area.

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Bethel Park public works crews have fanned out across the township checking storm drains and creeks for debris following Wednesday night's flooding.

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Cathy Mills shared this photo of Outback Steakhouse in Upper St. Clair.

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Mike Zervos of Peters Township shared this photo of the Trolley Stop Inn in Bethel Park, near the intersection of Clifton Rd and Rt 88.

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Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

Cars were swept away at the Trolley Stop Inn on Library Road after Wednesday night’s flooding.

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Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

Workers from nearby Kingswood Design volunteered to help remove debris from the Trolley Stop Inn.

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Mclaughlin Run Road in Upper St. Clair is closed indefinitely as crews remove a fallen tree.

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

More than 16 cars were swept away by Mclaughlin Run in Upper St. Clair during Wednesday night’s flooding.

BRIDGEVILLE – An Upper St. Clair woman died when she was swept away in rising water along McLaughlin Run after storms pounded the region Wednesday night and flooded multiple South Hills communities.

Upper St. Clair police said the body of 64-year-old Wendy Abbott was found Thursday morning in a creek behind the Bridgeville Fire Department, about a mile and a half from where her abandoned car was found near the Upper St. Clair tennis courts on McLaughlin Run Road.

Abbott was reported missing at about 10 p.m. Wednesday by her mother, police said. Township Manager and Emergency Management Coordinator Matthew Serakowski’s voice choked up as he, at a news conference Thursday afternoon, conveyed condolences to Abbott’s family.

When a tragedy like this hits the tight-knit community of almost 20,000 residents, “it hits us all hard,” Serakowski said.

Lt. Jonathan E. Wharton said he did not know where Abbott had been beforehand

“We believe Wendy Abbott left her vehicle after it got caught in the flood debris on the roadway and that she was swept away by the flood as she perhaps tried to walk home up Morrow Road to her house,” Wharton said. She was just blocks away from home.

No one else was injured in the flooding that damaged dozens of homes and businesses in Bridgeville, Upper St. Clair and Bethel Park.

The heaviest flooding was in Bridgeville, where numerous residents on Baldwin Street had to be rescued by firefighters and police officers in swiftwater boats.

Amber Charles, 24, was awakened by storms and noticed the water rising outside of her apartment at 639 Baldwin St. In less than 15 minutes, the water was pouring into her apartment and she went onto the front porch to signal for help.

“I was a little scared,” Charles said. “I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life. I was afraid of getting swept away. I saw cars floating.”

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

Bruce Cherosay points to the water level in his Baldwin Street home, which he said the flooding was “twice as bad” as 2013 and Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

She held onto her porch’s railing as rescuers navigated the flooded street. A boat picked up several of her neighbors and went back to take them to higher ground. Charles said she worried for a moment that they weren’t coming back for her.

“I shouted, ‘Help! Help! There are other people here,'” Charles recounted.

The boats returned minutes later and rescued her and others on the street.

James Mehlmauer, who lives a few buildings down at 619 Baldwin St., said floodwaters came in so fast that he, a friend and two children in his first-floor apartment were trapped and feared for their lives. Firefighters had to break a window to rescue them and two cats shortly before midnight.

“We saw it coming in, but this happened so fast,” Mehlmauer said. “There was nowhere to go.”

Observer-Reporter

Observer-Reporter

James Mehlmauer carries his cat, Adoria, while Jessica Carr walks with Minnie on Baldwin Street in Bridgeville. Mehlmauer and three other people were rescued by firefighters from his first-floor apartment when nearby Mclaughlin Run flooded in June 2018.

It was the worst flooding residents had ever seen, including Bruce Cherosay, who has lived in his home at 529 Baldwin St. since 1971. He said it was “twice as bad” as flooding in 2013 and 2004 with Hurricane Ivan. He scurried to the second floor of his home to safety.

Observer-Reporter

Observer-Reporter

Peters Township resident Paul Sikorski looks out the door of his Baldwin Street storage garage in Bridgeville where he kept his classic 1956 Buick that was destroyed by flooding.

Next door, Tony Sikorski of Peters Township was cleaning out a storage garage where his 1956 Buick classic car was destroyed by floodwaters that reached nearly eight feet. He said he restored the car after the 2013 flood but now it’s a total loss.

“It’s gone. I won’t restore it again. It’s done,” Sikorski said.

Hannah Loughman was organizing a shelter at Bridgeville First United Methodist Church for people affected by the flooding. She said they and other churches were working to offer food, cleaning supplies and a place to wash up.

Liberty and Railroad streets in Bridgeville were also hit by heavy flooding. Borough Manager Lori Collins said the municipality declared a state of emergency after 80 homes and a dozen businesses sustained first floor flooding. A stone wall on Bower Hill Road and a private bridge nearby were washed out by McLaughlin Run. Those areas are prone to flooding, and the borough council had earmarked $25,000 this year to use for flood control projects and was in the process of applying for an Army Corps of Engineers grant, Collins said.

“It would need to be large projects to make any kind of difference,” Collins said.

Further up McLaughlin Run in Upper St. Clair, township public works crews found, at last count, 17 crushed and battered cars washed up in the stream. They were being lifted by a crane, but when submerged or floating they may have acted as a dam that exacerbated the flooding.

A bridge on Morrow Road was damaged and will be closed indefinitely, officials said.

Observer-Reporter

Observer-Reporter

A Bridgeville firefighter stands in the bucket of an excavator to look inside an unoccupied SUV lodged beneath Bower Hill Road in McLaughlin Run.

In Bethel Park, township code enforcement officer Jeffrey Donatelli said officials were inspecting 30 to 40 properties for water damage.

The heaviest flooding there happened at the Trolley Stop Inn on Library Road, where customers and workers were trapped inside as water rushed in, forcing them to stand on tables to remain dry. The diner’s owner, Art Mitchell, said within 10 minutes, the water inundated the restaurant and sent cars floating in the parking lot.

Mitchell said he’s owned the diner for about 35 years, and it has experienced minor flooding only twice before. The diner does not have flood insurance, but he said he would “not stop” trying to reopen the diner.

“We lost everything, but we’re thankful no one was hurt. It’s been a mess,” Mitchell said.

Workers from Kingswood Design in Bethel Park volunteered their time Thursday to remove debris – mostly chairs, booths and tables caked in mud – from the restaurant and other locations on Library Road. Dave King, who owns Kingswood Design, said it was important for their business to help others in need.

“In trying times, it’s neighbors helping neighbors,” King said. “These guys are willing to help out and make things happen.”

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

Cleanup was in full swing last Thursday at Trolley Stop Inn on Library Road, Bethel Park. Workers from nearby Kingswood Design helped to remove debris.

State police Trooper Sam Nassan, who was off-duty at the time, rescued three people, including an 89-year-old woman, trapped in their cars in the 700 block of Clifton Road in Bethel Park, according to a state police news release.

Bethel Park public works crews fanned out across the township Thursday morning, checking storm drains and creeks for debris. Mt. Lebanon officials reported road damage closed Cedar Boulevard between Greenhurst Drive and Salem/Hollycrest.

The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh reported between 10 and 11 p.m. Wednesday, 3.64 inches of rain fell just north of Bridgeville and 2.19 inches just southwest of the borough. Meteorologist Lee Hendricks said the reason some areas seemed to get hit harder than others is due to “training thunderstorms.”

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

More than 16 cars were swept away by the creek during Wednesday night’s flooding.

“We had lines of storms that developed and continued through roughly the same areas,” he said. “They come and extend themselves in a line and move over the same areas, and when that happens, you can pick up a significant amount of rain in a short time.”

He said one mile southwest of Washington was also reporting 3.4 inches and West Middletown reported 2.5.

Adam Brandolph, a spokesman for Port Authority Transit in Allegheny County, said the entire trolley line that runs to the South Hills area was shut down Wednesday night. Brandolph said a landslide near the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel caused debris to fall on the track.

“We had to de-energize the rail line in order to make sure it was safe for our crews to work on it and remove the debris,” he said. “It was almost the end of service.”

In several areas, land under the tracks had been washed away along the line. He also said some of the poles that hold up the power lines that run the cars had either fallen or were unstable. He did not know when operations in that area would resume.

“We want to make sure they are all safe and stable before we open the line back up,” Brandolph said.

At the Thursday afternoon news conference, Serakowski commended first responders, noting Upper St. Clair volunteer firefighters responded to more than 50 calls Wednesday night, including a structure fire in Bridgeville.

A state of emergency was declared in Upper St. Clair.

Upper St. Clair Public Works Department had more than 100 calls about flooding and flood-related damage. It continues to take calls at 412-831-9000, extension 217 for followups.

Homes on Rossmoor and Sandhurst drives were especially hard hit, Serakowski said, and they are being inspected for structural soundness. Allegheny County and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency officials were deployed Wednesday to the township to conduct initial assessments.

Their efforts will continue into the weekend.

Staff writers Katie Anderson, Barbara S. Miller and Justin Channell contributed to this story.

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

Cleanup was in full swing Thursday at the Trolley Stop Inn on Library Road after Wednesday night’s flooding trapped customers inside. Workers from nearby Kingswood Design are volunteering their time to help remove debris.

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