July 4 weekend storms bring rain, flooding to Southwestern PA
Strong thunderstorms slammed Southwestern Pennsylvania over the weekend, disrupting Fourth of July celebrations, bringing heavy rain and flooding, and prompting flood watches and warnings.
A flood watch issued by the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh was in effect in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties until Monday night, as slow-moving thunderstorms and saturated ground created the possibility of flash flooding.
“(Southwestern Pennsylvania) is primed for more flooding since we’ve had so much rain and we’re looking at more rain,” said David Schallenberger, a meteorologist with NWS Pittsburgh, noting several roads had been flooded in the region. “We’ll probably have instances of flooding today, and the one thing to keep in mind is that if you see any flooded roadways, it’s best to turn around. Don’t attempt to drive through it.”
The rain caused the postponement of the city of Washington’s July 4 “Spark in the Park” fireworks display, which was moved to Sunday.
In Washington, Park Avenue, West Beau Street and West Wheeling Street were among the roads that were flooded, with portions of Park Avenue under as much as a foot of water.
The Charleroi Fire Department responded to at least 31 calls in a 24-hour period starting Saturday night, when torrential rains hit the borough. Firefighters responded to flooded roads, a lightning strike that damaged the roof of a home, and a gas leak in Twilight Borough caused by a road that collapsed, and crews stacked sandbags to divert water from a home threatened by runoff from a hillside.
“We dealt with every kind of call you can imagine except a structure fire or a vehicle accident,” said Charleroi Fire Chief Robert Whiten Jr. “It was raining so hard, it was just pouring down. There is nothing you can do when that amount of water falls; there was nowhere for the rain to go. Mother Nature is tough. But nobody got hurt, and we didn’t have any evacuations.”
In Allenport, near California Borough in Washington County, the excessive rainfall caused a massive hillside collapse that buried State Route 88 in mud and debris that closed the road for nearly two hours until heavy equipment cleared the lanes.
NWS Pittsburgh site at Pittsburgh International Airport set a record on July 5 for daily rainfall with 1.97 inches of rain, breaking the previous record of 1.89 inches set in 2005.
The storms knocked out power to thousands of residents across the region, with about 1,200 residents in Washington and Greene counties without power Sunday night. As of Monday afternoon, power had been restored to most customers in the region, while about 635 residents in Greene County remained without power.
The storms also impacted travel, delaying more than 100 flights and canceling more than a dozen others at Pittsburgh International Airport through Sunday night on one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
The heaviest rain occurred north of Allegheny County, and in Slippery Rock, Butler County, the mayor declared a state of emergency for the borough, which experienced significant flooding that closed several roads and hampered emergency responders’ efforts to help residents.