Overnight thunderstorms cause road closures, flooding
Heavy showers and thunderstorms starting Tuesday night and spilling over into early Wednesday afternoon caused some flooding and resulted in several local road closures.
PennDOT reported the most road closures due to flooding in Greene County, also noting closures in Washington and Westmoreland counties as of 3:30 p.m.
The Greene County road closures included Route 21 between West Run Road and Golden Oaks Road in Center Township, Route 221 at Dillie Road in Washington Township, Windy Gap Road between the Roy E. Furman Highway and McCracken Road in Richhill Township and Route 88 between Greene Cove Road and Hilltop Road in Jefferson Township.
In Washington County, the closures included Route 2019 in Ellsworth between American Drive and Main Street, and, in Westmoreland County, Route 3089 was closed between Thompson Hollow Road and Route 31 in East Huntingdon Township.
Susan Griffith, public information officer with Fayette County, reported “a great deal of residential flooding” in Luzerne Township, which she noted is a low-lying area.
“They’re pumping some basements now,” said Ryan Nichols, Luzerne Township Volunteer Fire chief.
Nichols added that West Penn Power customers lost power for a half hour in Luzerne around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday due to the storm.
Perry Township Volunteer Fire Chief A.J. Boni reported that part of River Road near the Youghiogheny River in Whitsett had been closed due to the overnight flooding but reopened before 4 p.m.
“All the side streams are flowing over, but the Youghiogheny River is staying within its banks,” Boni said.
Boni also reported that B&B Family Diner off Route 51 had received two to three feet of flooding.
“We’re watching it pretty closely,” Boni said of the flooding situation, adding that the overnight period of rain spanning Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon had subsided around 12:30 p.m.
Tom Green, meteorologist for National Weather Service Pittsburgh, said the Tuesday-to-Wednesday overnight storms are going to give way to a drop in temperature and rise in wind gusts, with two to four inches of snow expected for the region from Thursday night to noon Friday.