Flooding Forces Evacuations Across Allegheny County
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EAST DEER TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- Flooding forced evacuations across Allegheny County on Saturday.
A number of East Deer Township homes were evacuated Saturday as the Allegheny River and a nearby creek flooded, sending water into basements and onto roads.
The flooding started around 8:30 a.m. when the creek water started to come over the banks.
"Within an hour, it went from barely over the banks to flooding out all the basements most of the street, and it's also flooding out the street down on Grant Street, down at the other end of town," Jack Bailie, chief of the East Deer Fire Department, said.
Bailie said an ice jam was damming the river in Harmar Township and causing the creeks to flood.
Jeremy Love says he's lived on Parsonage Street in East Deer for 42 years and he's never seen flooding like this.
"Never seen the river come up over the banks. The creek, I've never seen it this far up into the yards or even this far up the street," he said.
Neighbors helped each other get cars out of the flooded area and remove belongings from basements.
At least 12 houses were evacuated. Bailie said residents in one home refused to evacuate.
West Penn Power shut off electricity to the affected houses.
A local church and the Red Cross were assisting those displaced.
The Red Cross was also helping the residents of Golden Towers Highrise, an Allegheny County Housing Authority building in Tarentum.
Basement flooding impacted the boiler system in that building, forcing about 75 people to evacuate.
The Red Cross closed their shelter after all residents found a place to stay for the night.