Mary Williams has dealt with a flood or two.
With the backyard of her South Buffalo home next to Buffalo Creek, she and her husband have gotten pretty good at judging whether or not their property will be flooded.
Still, Williams was surprised at how quickly the water rose Thursday night. The couple returned home at 11:45 p.m. after working afternoon shifts at their respective jobs. When she checked her backyard, the creek had reached the couple’s makeshift racquetball court.
Williams was one of many dealing with another round of record-breaking rainfall that left much of the region under a flood warning.
In addition to South Buffalo in Armstrong County, hardest-hit areas appear to be northern Washington County and sections of Allegheny County, including the Bridgeville area, where ball fields at Chartiers Valley High School were under water Friday morning, and the Oakdale, Etna and South Fayette areas.
Butler County also had almost a dozen roads closed at least temporarily because of flooding.
The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh issued a flood warning for Allegheny, southern Armstrong, Beaver, southern Butler, Fayette, Greene, west central Indiana, southern Lawrence, Washington and western Westmoreland counties, with additional rain expected through the day Friday.
That’s along with a wind advisory for much of the region through 7 a.m. Saturday. The weather service warned that saturated soil could allow trees to fall more easily.
Buffalo Creek continued rising Friday, with water coming close to Freeport’s sewage treatment plant on Market Street.
“Within 45 minutes, the water was already so high,” Williams said of the flooding in the early-morning hours Friday.
Her home is at a higher elevation than those of her neighbors, and she wasn’t worried about the rain until an ambulance used her driveway to turn around.
On North Scenic Drive in South Buffalo Township where homes are under water. Residents were evacuated from the street Thursday night. Keep up with developments @TribLIVE pic.twitter.com/4PvDPsjzSf
— haley daugherty (@halzdoc) April 12, 2024
“That’s when I got on Facebook and saw that the fire department had opened their social hall for people being evacuated,” Williams said.
The Salvation Army opened a shelter at the South Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Department, but everyone who was displaced found places to stay by daybreak.
Williams and her husband stayed up until 4 a.m. watching their neighbors from North Scenic Drive, South Scenic Drive and Pine Tree Lane be evacuated by Armstrong County river rescue crews.
“We had a front row seat,” Williams said.
Michael Mollick, Armstrong County’s public safety director and emergency manager, said he was notified of the flooding at 11:30 p.m. Thursday and evacuations began at 1 a.m. Friday.
“With the storms from last week and the storm that rolled through this week, it caused the creek to overflow its banks in a pretty quick fashion,” Mollick said.
He said six water rescue units were used to evacuate a total of eight people from South Buffalo’s Boggsville neighborhood. Many of the structures there are seasonal camps.
“Three of them went to a shelter for temporary housing until they could get transportation to go to friends and family, and the rest went to friends’ houses close by,” he said.
He said that while it was rare to see that level of flooding in the area, there was nothing unexpected when the county’s emergency plan was enacted.
“No real big scrambles,” Mollick said. “Just a couple small things here and there.”
One of those “little glitches” was a power line coming down, causing a few hazards for the rescue boats.
“Something like that isn’t in the plan,” Mollick said.
There were no injuries reported during the evacuation or flooding.
Williams said she and her husband watched crews bring in rafts, ambulances, firetrucks and place floodlights on the bridge.
“(The rescue crews) were just amazing,” Williams said. “To have so many people show up was just incredible.”
Little Buffalo Creek rises dangerously close to Freeport Water Treatment Plant on Market Street where construction is being done. More updates to come with @TribLIVE pic.twitter.com/GGf1SJfDiz
— haley daugherty (@halzdoc) April 12, 2024
In other areas, PennDOT announced the “bathtub” section of westbound I-376 closed at noon Friday because of flooding as the Allegheny River continues to rise.
The rivers near Downtown Pittsburgh already rose more than 21 feet from heavy rains, and the weather service predicted they would rise to 25 feet above normal levels by Friday night.
Pittsburgh officials used the flood gates and closed a section of Washington Boulevard from Allegheny River Boulevard to Negley Run Road overnight. The roadway reopened Friday morning, and the flood gates have been lifted, public safety officials said.
The city also closed all parks and trails late Thursday because of flooding, but they since have reopened.
Allegheny County spokeswoman Abigail Gardner said county emergency crews canvassed flooded areas Friday afternoon to assess damage caused by the heavy rains.
Oakdale, in western Allegheny County, reported heavy flooding. Most of the roads in its business district remained closed, the borough said on social media.
South Fayette Township also had several roads shut down due to flood damage, and the township reported on social media that rescues were necessary in the area overnight.
Etna officials issued evacuation plans Thursday night as Pine Creek reached levels of 14 feet above normal. The borough said on Facebook that the creek levels have receded to about 12 feet above normal, but warned residents to remain cautious and not drive through flood water.
Duquesne Light reported about 2,800 customers were without power as of 1:30 p.m. over a combined 22 outages. Shaler had more than 1,500 customers affected, with Hampton (518), Turtle Creek (238), Monroeville (168) and Mt. Lebanon (119) also above 100.
As of 1:30 p.m., West Penn Power reported fewer than 50 customers each were without power in Indiana, Westmoreland, Washington and Butler counties.
Several school districts canceled classes for the day following the heavy rains, including Butler Area and Canon-McMillan, while even more switched to remote learning days, like Avella, Bethlehem Center, Burgettstown, Chartiers-Houston, Fort Cherry, McGuffey and Seneca Valley.
Freeport Area, Highlands and Quaker Valley were among those with two-hour delays.
Brookline flood rescue
A woman was rescued from her vehicle Thursday night by Swiftwater Rescue Paramedics after getting stuck in flood waters in Brookline.
Emergency crews were called to Saw Mill Run Boulevard around 9 p.m. Water rescue paramedics deployed their boat to get the woman out of her car.
Pittsburgh Public Safety said she was not hurt.
The woman was one of multiple rescues Thursday night in areas including Oakdale, Coraopolis and northern Washington County.
Record rain
The National Weather Service has begun posting statistics from Thursday night’s “record shattering” rain.
Thursday’s total of almost 3 inches doubled the previous daily record from 1933. They have also named Thursday as the 25th “wettest day,” a record that hasn’t been broken since 1871.
Pittsburgh has already received over 6 inches of rain above what is considered normal for April.
Only halfway through the month, it already is considered the third wettest April on record, and the weather service predicts that it will be the first by the end of the month.
It’s also the first time that the first and second greatest daily rainfall for a month have occurred in the same year.
Month to date rainfall totals so far across the region...most likely rainiest Apr 1st - Apr 11th on record for most locations. pic.twitter.com/hlgkn0wKYU
— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) April 12, 2024
Road closures
The 10th Street Bypass in Pittsburgh closed Friday morning. The road was closed between Fort Duquesne Boulevard and the Parkway North/Fort Duquesne Bridge.
Additional road closures across the region were widespread late Thursday and into Friday night.
According PennDOT, the closures included:
Allegheny County
The following roads were closed as of 10 p.m.:
• Washington Boulevard, between Allegheny River Boulevard and Negly Run Road
• Route 48, at Ripple Road in White Oak
• Long Run Road, between Cool Springs Road and Marshall Drive in White Oak
• I-279 southbound, to eastbound I-376 Interstate Connector in Pittsburgh
• Parkway East westbound, at the Grant Street exit in Pittsburgh
• Yutes Run Road, between Main Street and Tawney Run in Springdale Township
• Church Hollow Road, between McVicker Lane and Salka Lane in Forward Township
• Streets Run Road, between Glass Run Road and Brentwood Road in Pittsburgh
• Verona Road, between Sandy Creek Road and Mt. Carmel Road
• Tenth Street Bypass, between Fort Duquesne Bridge and Fort Duquesne Boulevard in Pittsburgh
• Toms Run Road/Duff Road, between Ohio River Boulevard and Duff Road in Allepo and Kilbuck townships
• Big Sewickley Creek Road, between Hoenig Road and Turkeyfoot Road; between Camp Meeting Road and Metz Road in Bell Acres had a lane restriction
• Big Sewickley Creek Road, between Camp Meeting Road and Metz Road in Bell Acres had a lane restriction
Armstrong County
• Route 356 in Freeport near the Second Street intersection was closed as of 10 p.m. due to a landslide. Crews were on scene doing cleanup working to get at least one lane open quickly.
• Iron Bridge Road, between Horseshoe Drive, Stokes Road, North Scenic Road and South Scenic Road in South Buffalo reopened shortly after 4 p.m.
• Nicola Road/Mushroom Farm Road/Nichola Road, between M&M Lime Company Drive and Fenneltown Road in West Franklin reopened shortly after 4 p.m.
• Craigsville Road/Yellow Dog Road, between Airport Road, Yellow Dog Road and Craigsville Road in West Franklin remained closed.
• Johnston Avenue/Oak Avenue ,between Lower Hayes Road in Rayburn Township and River Hill Road in Boggs Township was closed shortly after 4 p.m.
• Route 1004 at the Poseytown Road, Scenic Road intersection in Madison Township was closed shortly after 4 p.m.
• Johnstown Avenue/Oak Avenue, between Lower Hayes Road in Rayburn Township and River Hill Road in Boggs Township were closed as of 10 p.m.
• Route 1004, at Poseytown Road, Scenic Road intersection in Madison Township was closed as of 10 p.m.
• Mill Hill Road, between Garretts Run Road and Iron Bridge Road in Burrell Township was closed as of 10 p.m.
• Nicola Road/Mushroom Farm Road/Nicola Road between Hindman Hill Road and Valley View Road in West Franklin Township was closed as of 10 p.m.
Butler County
• Route 38, between Route 422 westbound and Hoon Road, Pine Tract Road in Center Township reopened around 10 p.m.
• Route 1016 between Hendricks Road in Butler Township and Route 38 – Oneida Valley Road in Summit Township reopened around 10 p.m.
• Renfrew Road between Hicks Road and Three Degree Road in Penn Township reopened around 10 p.m.
• Benbrook Road/Three Degree Road/Valencia Road/Meridian Road between Watters Station Road and West Road in Forward Township and between Smith Road and Beacon Light Road in Penn Township reopened shortly after 4 p.m.
• Little Creek Road/Yellow Creek Road between Little Creek Road and East Lancaster Road in Lancaster Township reopened shortly after 4 p.m.
• Route 68 between Route 528 — Lindsay Road in Jackson Township and Washington Street in Evans City remained closed as of 10 p.m.
• West Sunbury Road between Kyle Road and Foff Station Road in Boyers Township remained closed as of 10 p.m.
• Boyers Road/Cemetery Road between Oakland Road in Marion Township and Kohlmeyer Road in Venango Township remained closed as of 10 p.m.
Several other roads reopened shortly after 4 p.m.
