Nov 20, 2003 By Steve Ferris 5 min read

Three inches of rain fell on Uniontown from midnight Tuesday through Wednesday evening, causing streams to overflow their banks and flood streets and basements all over town. A state of emergency was declared at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday.

At least 19 businesses, including public buildings, were affected in some way, and several were heavily flooded.

Most of the water came from Redstone Creek. Several feet of water accumulated in the Iowa Street area and seeped into the Uniontown Public Library and made Marshall Park look like a lake with cars as islands.

Uniontown Fire Chief Myron Nypaver said 11 new cars at Auto Land Select Cars on East Fayette Street were submerged, Diamond Shine Cleaning on Iowa Street lost all its stock and inventory when its basement filled with water, Carney’s Auto Repair Service on Iowa Street suffered major flooding, O.C. Cluss Lumber was hit hard, the post office had some flooding and a Uniontown Area School District building on Iowa Street was in the path of the torrent.

The basement of McGarvey’s One Hour Photo on Church Street had 3 feet of water inside, and water rose from the basement into the first floor of The Studio on East Fayette.

Community Action of Fayette County on North Beeson Avenue was evacuated.

The city closed North Beeson Avenue north from Penn Street, East Fayette Street from North Gallatin Avenue, the entire length of Iowa Street, North Gallatin Avenue from East Fayette to Church streets, lower Grant Street to the city line, Dunbar Street from Bailey Park to Pennsylvania Avenue, Pittsburgh Street from Penn Street to North Mount Vernon Avenue and Penn Street from Gallatin to Bailey avenues.

Some of the streets were reopened as the water began to recede in the afternoon and evening.

Nypaver said many basements could not be pumped out Wednesday because the high water outside would flow right back inside.

He said residents or business owners whose buildings were flooded should call the station at 724-438-6900 today so damages can be assessed.

“All the work starts after the water recedes,” Nypaver said.

He said a rain gauge at the fire station measured 3 inches of rain.

Acting Mayor Bob Cerjanec credited Nypaver, Emergency Management Coordinator Greg Crossley, police and street and sewage department workers for working together during the emergency.

The state of emergency he declared forced the Fayette Chamber of Commerce to cancel the annual light-up night in downtown that was scheduled for Wednesday night. The chamber will meet today to reschedule the event.

Cerjanec and City Councilman Blair Jones Sr. spent a few hours in the afternoon touring hard-hit areas and streets and bridges near streams to assess flooding potential.

Jones said Redstone Creek flows into town from Hopwood and meets Coal Lick Run, which flows from South Union Township, near the intersection of Pittsburgh Street and North Mount Vernon Avenue.

On the closed part of Pittsburgh Street, he noticed air bubbles in water on the street and said the bubbles were caused by water coming through the road

Redstone Creek overflowed it banks at the bridge near Mahoney’s Bar and Grill on Fayette Street, he said.

While the main creek channel was flooded, water from the creek also traveled down Iowa Street, Jones said. From there the water found its way to Church Street, where it met up with floodwater from the main creek channel and turned the area into a lake.

“The water can’t get back into the creek until it recedes,” Jones said.

The rain ended by 6 p.m. and today’s forecast is dry, so city officials expected the high waters to recede.

Jack Hughes, a weather observer in Chalk Hill for the National Weather Service, said 2.73 inches fell in the mountains.

He said the ground remains saturated from a storm that dumped 2 inches of rain last week and previous rains, so Wednesday’s rain flowed quickly into small streams and caused flooding.

While he said he expects the small streams to recede today, the Youghiogheny and Monongahela rivers remain in danger of flooding.

“We had two-and-three-quarter inches of rain. The ground was so saturated, it just couldn’t absorb any more water,” Hughes said.

“When the water recedes, a lot of the problems will take care of themselves,” Crossley said.

He and Nypaver are planning to assess damages today.

Assistant Fire Chief Chuck Coldren said the department received about 50 calls reporting flooded basements, and Fayette County 911 received many more.

He said the list of callers will be kept and they will be contacted today.

Although Redstone Creek appeared to be the source of most of the floodwater, Coal Lick Run was within inches of flooding in several locations, including Berkeley Street and the intersection of Mount Vernon and Lebanon avenues.

Redstone Creek flooded the intersection of Barton Mill and Grant Street and Grant Street Park.

Jim Stark, executive director of the Fayette County Community Action Agency, said the agency’s three buildings were evacuated at 11:30 a.m.

“It just came up so fast. It was amazing,” Stark said. “Such an amount of water in such a short period of time.”

He said all Community Action programs are closed today but will resume operations Friday.

Stark said he was most worried about the food bank because it sits at the lowest elevation.

Workers stacked sandbags at the doors of the Community Service Building to prevent water from entering, he said.

Bob McGarvey had plenty of water in the basement of his photo shop by 12:15 p.m.

“Everything’s floating in 3 feet of water,” he said.

He said this was only the second time the store was flooded in the 19 years it has been open.

Michelle O’Brochta, owner of The Studio, said the salon has never flooded since it opened in 1984, even though it sits next to the banks of Redstone Creek.

She said water filled the basement and seeped through the floorboards into the first floor.

Previous storms have left water in the basement, but “nothing like this.”