Hit-and-miss storms cause flood of problems

By Mike Wereschagin

TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Friday, July 6, 2007

Roberta Watkins watched helplessly as a torrent of water rushed down Franklin Avenue in Aliquippa and carried her 2006 Chrysler about 100 feet.

She didn't get nervous, though, until the flash flood invaded R2R Daycare, where she was helping to watch 11 children, ages 2 months to 10 years.

"We followed our evacuation plan. We went in the back and upstairs," said Watkins, of Aliquippa.

Across the region Thursday afternoon, violent, isolated thunderstorms flooded basements and businesses, stranded motorists, ruined cars and was blamed for at least one house fire. Some areas recorded more than 4.5 inches yesterday, according to the National Weather Service.

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Before yesterday, the worry in much of Western Pennsylvania was that there had been too little rainfall -- from 1.24 inches below normal in Allegheny County to about 2.5 inches below normal in Beaver County.

Some places still might be suffering from the dry spell, as the storm deluged parts of the region and left others nearly untouched, said Werner Loehlein, chief of the water management branch of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District.

"I would guess half the region is saying, 'What rain?'" Loehlein said. Because the ground was so dry, and the three rivers were already running shallow, the area was spared the widespread devastation wrought by the remnants of Hurricane Ivan in 2004. "It's been pretty dry the last couple of months."

The storm knocked out power for about 1,000 of Duquesne Light's 600,000 customers, said spokesman Joe Vallarian. Most outages were scattered throughout Beaver County, he said.

A flash flood and a downed power line forced authorities to shut both directions of Interstate 79 from the Ohio River north to the I-279 interchange, beginning about 1:30 p.m. By rush hour, PennDOT had reopened two northbound lanes and one southbound lane, but by then, the closure had created a 5-mile traffic jam between the Mt. Nebo and Wexford exits. One of the northbound lanes closed at 7 p.m. so workers could clean up the flood damage.

Flash floods closed roads in Armstrong, Beaver, Indiana, Washington and Westmoreland counties, according to the National Weather Service.

In Hampton, a house was gutted after it was struck by lightning and caught fire about 12:45 p.m.

"It's pretty much a total loss," Hampton manager Chris Lochner said about the home on Timberlane Drive, just off Mt. Royal Boulevard.

A mother and at least one child were in the home when the lightning struck. No one was injured, though a cat and pet rabbit died in the fire, neighbors said. The home belongs to Ruben and Tina Marie Velez, according to Allegheny County records.

"From what I was told, the lightning came in through a window and hit a couch, which exploded," Lochner said.

It was the second time lightning struck on the street in less than a month, said Mary Williams, a nearby resident.

"About three weeks ago, lightning hit a tool shed here and destroyed it and a tractor," she said.

In nearby areas, storm damage was mostly limited to minor flooding and felled trees.

"We had trees down in lots of places, but no closed roads," said Shaler Manager Tim Rogers.

Pine Creek, the source of extensive damage in 2004 when the hurricane remnant passed through, hadn't overflowed its banks, but it was getting close yesterday, Rogers said.

"That creek was high all afternoon," Rogers said.

In Ross, water rushed into the intersection of Babcock Boulevard and Thompson Run Road about 1 p.m., but the road remained open, a township dispatcher said.

Ambridge Road in Leet -- an area hit hard by Ivan -- had two flooded basements yesterday, said Paul Federbar, chief of the Fair Oaks Volunteer Fire Department.

"We got lucky. We dodged a bullet on this one, without a doubt," said Federbar, who lives in a neighborhood devastated by Big Sewickley Creek in 2004.

In Westmoreland County, the rapidly moving waters of Pine Run created problems for residents of The Meadows mobile home park in Washington Township.

The water mostly flowed under the skirting of the mobile homes without rising into the houses. Lawns, outdoor furniture, porches and sheds bore the brunt of the damage.

In Latrobe, heavy rains overwhelmed a sewer line at a nursing home, forcing the temporary relocation of some patients from their rooms.

About 10 patients at the Latrobe Regional Health and Rehabilitation Center moved out of their wing at 2:30 p.m., said administrator Linda Stumpf.

Kathy Miller, 46, of Rochester, Beaver County, tried to drive through high water on Route 51 in Aliquippa in her white Pontiac G6, but got stuck about 1 p.m.

"I've been stranded here for three hours, and I'm ready to go," she said after her damaged car was towed.

Four employees of Aliquippa Food Service, returning from a delivery in the West Aliquippa neighborhood, tried and failed to beat the rushing water on Route 51. About 10 minutes before they got stuck, they had driven over the same spot, and the water was only about a foot deep, said Andre Hunter. On the way back, though, they saw cars stranded in water that was windshield deep, Hunter said. Their engine stalled.

As the water receded from Aliquippa's Franklin Avenue, it left piles of mud, branches lodged under cars and hours of grueling clean-up work.

Darnell Fisher wanted to get finished as soon as possible.

He used an orange snow shovel to push the muck from Franklin Sporting Goods, the pool hall over which he rents an apartment.

"I'd rather see it clean than have to walk through it," he said.

The 11 children in R2R Daycare were rescued by Watkins' friend, Scharon Moreland, 38, a steelworker. Moreland pulled his Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck to the back of the day care center and drove everyone to his nearby home.

The kids, Moreland said, were thrilled at the chance to ride in the back.

Mike Wereschagin can be reached at mwereschagin@tribweb.com or (412) 391-0927.

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