Cleanup begins after flash flooding leads to damage, rescues in Uniontown
Courtesy of Ed Riedmann
A Fayette EMS ambulance became disabled trying to navigate through flooding in Uniontown Sunday evening while responding to a medical emergency call along Beeson Avenue. A fire truck also wound up stuck responding to the same incident.
Photo by Ed Riedmann
A car is nearly submerged by floodwaters at the intersection of Lebanon and South Mount Vernon avenues in Uniontown Sunday evening. Fayette County EMA said South Mount Vernon Avenue was one of several locations where water rescues took place.
Photo by Ed Riedmann
A Jeep pulls a disabled vehicle from a flooded intersection along Lebanon Avenue in Uniontown Sunday evening. The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh reported that the Uniontown area received an estimated rainfall of 4.05 inches on Sunday evening.
Uniontown was hit hard on Sunday night with flash-flood-inducing rainfall as the city spent the beginning of what’s expected to be a cooler week cleaning up.
“It’s going to be a much more comfortable start in the week at that point,” said John Darnley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh about the changing air mass expected to come in Monday afternoon, leaving the area with long-awaited cooler and dryer weather.
That forecast is a stark contrast to the weekend weather with temperatures reaching the 90s and rainfall on Sunday night that eventually poured down on Fayette County and caused flooding in Uniontown.
Darnley said rainfall estimates were around 4.05 inches in the area, beginning and going on and off Saturday night into Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon.
The rain then grew steadier and heavier between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Sunday, with the heaviest rain between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.
According to Fayette County EMA Public Information Officer Susan Kozak-Griffith, the rain caused multiple flooding calls in Uniontown, even causing water rescues reported along Miller Avenue, Mount Vernon Avenue, Springdale Golf Course along Route 21, Walnut Hill Road and Plummer Road in German Township and an incident along Beeson Avenue.
Uniontown fire Chief Dane “Buck” Griffith said an ambulance was responding to an emergency at Meadow Heights Apartments along Beeson Avenue when the ambulance became stuck in the high water; a fire engine then attempted to assist and also became stuck in the water.
Chief Griffith said both vehicles had to be towed as they sustained substantial damage, and the patient at the apartments was rescued when a firefighter drove his truck on the railroad tracks to get to her.
“It was the highest I saw the water in town here,” Chief Griffith said. “It came up so fast.”
As of Monday morning, Chief Griffith said crews were still out to handle substantial flooding in town, trees down on power lines and into structures, and were ready to handle any problems that came their way.
“We’re just trying to get things cleaned up,” Chief Griffith said. “We’re trying to get to those as fast as we can.”
Susan Griffith said Uniontown had assistance from other fire departments in the county.
“It was a really great effort and kept the casualties low and handled in a timely manner,” she said, adding that the calls died down around 3 a.m. “The county was hit pretty hard, but all the entities were busy trying to help get it back to a workable community.”
One of many to be hit by flooding was Fayette County Community Action Agency Inc. (FCCAA), which announced on its Facebook page that it closed its main offices on Monday because of flooding.
Kim Hawk, FCCAA director of operations, said they’re still assessing the total damage caused by floodwaters at their food bank, their family service center and their community service center.
Hawk said there’s been minimal losses at the food bank ever since they’ve stacked products on shelving four feet off the ground and their cooler/freezer four feet off the ground, which was beneficial since there was over three feet of water in the facility.
“We were more prepared with our food racks,” Hawk said.
Darnley added that Uniontown, as of July 2, has not had someone participating in the Cooperation Weather Observing Program, and they’re currently looking for a volunteer to measure rain, snow and temperatures with equipment provided by the National Weather Service.
The data collected helps the service keep more accurate weather records and other weather-related record keeping.
For more information, contact Darnley at 412-262-1591 ext. 225 or visit https://www.weather.gov/pbz/coop