Mon Valley, Greene County spared of major flooding from Ida
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Chuck Trax, owner of Trax Farms Market near Finleyville, uses a hose to spray mud from the sidewalk of the store, which experienced minor flooding because of the remnants of Hurricane Ida.
Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter
Railroad Street in Peters Township was closed Wednesday because of flooding after Peters Creek spilled its banks. It was not immediately known if the flooding damaged any of the houses along the street.
Rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida hammered parts of the region Wednesday, but spared much of the Mon Valley and Greene County of major flooding.
Pat Herald, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, said most areas saw between an inch-and-a-half to 3 inches of rain.
“The totals are about what we expected. We thought the higher totals would be a little more widespread,” Herald said. “The river flooding is not going to be as extensive as we thought.”
The rain began Tuesday evening and caused flash flooding in communities in northern Washington County, according to the county’s Interim Director of Public Safety, Ryan Frazee.
“That kind of cleared up and we had a pretty quiet night until about 6 a.m. (Wednesday) morning,” Frazee said.
Chuck Trax, owner of Trax Farms Market in Union Township, was hosing off the mud that had accumulated near the entrance of the store, which sustained minor flooding Tuesday night. Workers were out in force Wednesday morning removing mud from the parking lot and getting the store ready to open on time.
“We made it through OK,” Trax said. “A lot of people out there are a lot worse than us.”
Parts of nearby Finleyville and Peters Township were harder hit, with floodwaters closing Railroad Street and Airport Road as creeks spilled their banks.
“That area was not going to get as much of that rain,” Frazee said. “We did end up seeing more rain than we were being told.”
The rain began to recede by early afternoon Wednesday, and Frazee said additional rainfall was not expected.
According to Frazee, emergency crews responded to several reports of drivers stuck on flooded roadways.
“Do not drive into flooded roadways,” Frazee said. “It puts your life in danger, and it puts first responders’ lives in danger.”
The larger concerns about flooding on the Monongahela River were alleviated as rain dissipated Wednesday afternoon.
While earlier estimates from the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh showed that the Monongahela River could reach “major” flood stage in Charleroi at nearly 37 feet, the agency downgraded its forecast early Wednesday afternoon to anticipate “minor” flooding. That lower forecast came as a relief to many towns along the river that were preparing for flooding, including the Stockdale Volunteer Fire Department, which posted on its Facebook page that “it looks like we are in the clear from any major flooding” in the area.
“The river may still rise a little, but nothing that would be of major concern,” the department wrote in its social media post shortly before noon Wednesday. “Thank you all who prepared, because the initial forecast was not very good, but thankfully things changed and we didn’t get the rains as first predicted.”
Carl Zanardini, who owns Smitty’s Marina in Speers, was keeping an eye on the forecast, but wasn’t overly concerned. He said most businesses and homes along the Mon River wouldn’t be affected unless the water went above 39 feet, which was nowhere close to the updated NWS forecast of just under 29 feet around 10 a.m. today.
“So far, so good,” Zanardini said. “I hope it’s just one of those (situations) to be overly prepared.”
Alan Nogy, lockmaster at Lock & Dam No. 4 along the Monongahela River near Charleroi, said they expected to be able to remain open without problems as the original forecast for major flooding was downgraded to minor.
“Should be. Still, you never know,” Nogy said. “Those predictions are just that, but we should be fine.”
Don Mason, Greene County Emergency Management Agency director, said no flood-related issues were reported to the agency as of noon.
“As hard as it rained here, it’s surprising that we weren’t greatly impacted by the rainfall,” Mason said. “We know counties around us were affected by flooding, and as of now it seems that Greene luckily avoided any serious issues. Thank God.”
Mason said he did not know how much rain had fallen in Greene, and his office only received a few scattered reports of downed trees throughout the area. He added that EMA employees had been traveling across the county to assess and evaluate any potential flood-related damages or issues.
“We are carefully monitoring the situation and will continue to do so, and we will be watching late tonight and tomorrow to see if additional rainfall will impact the Mon River and our area,” he said.
Despite the heavy rainfall, none of the five county school districts had to cancel classes Wednesday, and only West Greene School District implemented a two-hour delay.
Though flooding does not appear to be as bad as expected, state officials are still asking that people take precautions.
“The next 12 to 18 hours will be the most … critical time where we will see the maximum impact from this storm,” Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Director Randy Padfield said during an 11 a.m. press conference Wednesday.
He said state officials have pre-staged rescue crews from the Pennsylvania National Guard across the state to help as needed.
Jeff Jumper, a PEMA meteorologist, said the next 24 hours will bring “a month or two months’ worth of rain.” Rivers will continue to rise for “a couple days,” he said, warning people not to walk through flooded areas.
Officials urged motorists to stay home if they’re able, and cautioned against driving through flooded areas or around barriers that have closed roads.
State police Major Robert Krol said those who get stuck after driving around barricades could face a $500 fine, while those who do so and need to be rescued are, under the law, on the hook for the cost of rescue efforts.
“Less traffic on the road is going to help keep (everyone) safer,” Gov. Tom Wolf said.
Todd Meyers, a spokesperson West Penn Power, said the weather caused about 3,000 Washington County customers to lose power Wednesday morning. Many of them had their power restored by the afternoon. Meyers said recent storms caused more power outages than Wednesday’s weather.
Numerous school districts closed or moved students to remote learning as a result of anticipated severe weather, including: Avella, Burgettstown, Canon-McMillan, Fort Cherry, McGuffey, Peters Township, Trinity and Washington.