Tropical Storm Gordon closes roads, causes minor flooding on Monongahela River
Scott Beveridge/Observer-Reporter
Lee Supply employee Mitch Pankiewicz volunteers Monday to clear debris from a drain along Lincoln Avenue Extension in Charleroi to prevent floodwater from entering an office building.
A truck travels across the submerged Freedom Bridge on Route 19/21 near Waynesburg about 2:30 p.m. Monday.
A bystander takes a look at a car stuck Sept. 10 in water along California Drive in Coal Center.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
A PennDOT truck stops Monday to block a flooded section of Route 481 in Daisytown near Garwood Baptist Church.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
California Drive in California was underwater Monday morning, leading to the rescue of one stranded motorist.
Submitted photo
Flooding has been a consistent problem at South Main Street and Park Avenue in Washington, as shown in this September 2018 file photo. This bridge that takes traffic over Catfish Creek will be replaced in 2025.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
The soccer fields along Route 481 in Monongahela were covered in water from nearby Pigeon Creek Monday.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Route 481 in Monongahela was underwater Monday near Peno’s Plaza as Pigeon Creek overflowed its banks.
A section of East Main Street in Monongahela between Poplar Street and Ridge Avenue was flooded Monday.
Courtesy of Bethlehem-Center
Saturated ceiling tiles fell in the cafeteria at Bethlehem-Center Elementary School during heavy weekend rains.
Courtesy of Bethlehem-Center School District
Carpets were saturated when water leaked into Bethlehem-Center Elementary School during heavy rains last September.
A storm that brought the second-highest daily rainfall amount on record Sunday resulted in minor flooding along the Monongahela River and washed out roads across the region.
The National Weather Service reported readings of 5.5 inches of rain at Pittsburgh International Airport over the previous 72 hours as of Monday morning. By the time the rain let up later in the day, Tropical Storm Gordon had closed schools and flooded low-lying basements throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania.
It also contributed to a roof collapse Saturday morning at the vacant former Rite Aid pharmacy on West Main Street in Monongahela, said First Lt. Chris Bartkus of the city fire department.
“It was unoccupied,” Bartkus said.
The Mon crested in Charleroi at 28.3 feet shortly after noon Monday, a depth slightly above flood stage.
Fire departments throughout the Mon Valley were busy pumping water out of basements. By late in the morning, Charleroi firefighters had been to eight flooded basements and they expected to respond to many more, fire department President Glenn Shipley said.
Shipley said pooling water had closed Route 88 between Allenport and Charleroi.
He said it was a waste of time to barricade roads because “people still drive around them.”
In California, a motorist had to be rescued from a vehicle that became stranded in high water on California Drive Monday morning.
Still, Mon Valley towns fared better than their counterparts along the Youghiogheny River in Westmoreland County.
NWS hydrologists said the depth of the Yough was at nearly 26 feet around noon Monday in Sutersville. It wasn’t expected to recede below the flood stage of 20 feet until about midday today.
Rainfall in Pittsburgh totaled 3.73 inches Sunday alone. Hurricane Ivan still holds the single-day record rainfall amount of 5.95 inches Sept. 17, 2004, the federal agency said in a tweet.
A rescue team from several departments had to use floating rope bags to pull to safety two men who fell out of their kayaks after trying to brave Chartiers Creek near Racetrack Road Sunday night.
Chartiers manager Jodi Noble said intermittent flooding also closed several roads, swamped basements and brought down trees in the township.
“We will be doing damage assessment in the following days,” Noble said. “We are very fortunate given the amount of rain that fell. It could have been much worse.”
South Strabane Township police reported that a man abandoned a vehicle in the creek near Zediker Station Road Sunday night.
Meanwhile, Bethlehem-Center Superintendent Chris Sefcheck said an “extensive amount of water” had leaked into the district’s elementary school and pooled or saturated carpets in various places in the building.
Several ceiling tiles in the building’s cafeteria also became saturated and gave way.
“It’s ironic because we actually have a building and grounds meeting (Monday night) to discuss renovations for all three buildings,” Sefcheck said. Those plans include new roofs, among other projects, he added.
Sefcheck later announced Monday night Beth-Center School District will be closed today because of “road closures and clean-up efforts” in response to the flooding.
Widespread flooding was reported in the Waynesburg area and across Greene County. A motorist who attempted to travel through high water on Route 18 near Pisgah Road in Franklin Township had to be rescued about 2 p.m., Waynesburg-Franklin fire Chief Jeff Marshall said.
Route 21 in West Waynesburg and the Freedom Bridge on Route 19/21 in Morrisville were both submerged, along with Waynesburg University’s football field.
Greg Leathers, director of Greene County Emergency Management Agency, said fire companies were out Monday pumping flooded basements and assisting the state with road closings.
Leathers said he also had not heard any reports of homes being flooded, only basements. Power outages were reported throughout the county.
“We haven’t had any calls for emergency evacuations yet,” Leathers said Monday morning.
Staff writers Kathie O. Warco, Bob Niedbala and Mike Jones contributed to this report.