Families Evacuated By Boat As Flood Waters Rise In Bolivar
BOLIVAR (KDKA) -- Rising flood waters forced families from their homes Friday afternoon in Westmoreland County.
Boats were brought in to evacuate three families at the intersection of Route 259 and Creek Road in Bolivar Borough in Fairfield Township.
Hours after the flooding forced a wheelchair-bound family from their home, the water line and remaining water is still visible.
Linda and Barry Henderson live a few doors down.
"It changed within minutes," said Linda. "I mean, I looked out the windows, there was nothing. The water was flowing; and the next thing I know, the water is jammed with ice. From there, everything went downhill; the ice started jamming every place."
Firefighters say, in all, three families had to be evacuated due to rising waters flooding their homes.
Two families were able to walk out.
But rescuers had to bring in a boat to get one family out safely.
"I've been here 62 years and I've never seen it this high," Barry says. "Just bad winter, lot of ice backing up."
The three families who were evacuated are staying with family members.
The Bolivar Fire Department opened as a temporary shelter for the families.
The flooding was caused by an ice jam.
Also, flooding was reported in North Huntingdon Township on Barns Lake Road, in Bell Township on Spur Road and on 3rd Avenue in Cedarville.
There were no reports of evacuations in those areas.
Meanwhile, in Lawrence County rising water levels and ice accumulations prompted voluntary evacuations along McKim Way in Franklin Township.
There are reports of flooding in Franklin Township along the Connoquenessing Creek.
WEB EXTRA: NewsChopper 2 over Buffalo Creek in Armstrong County:
The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Advisory for the Ohio River at Pittsburgh through Sunday afternoon.
A Flood Warning is also in effect for Venango County until 10:15 a.m. Saturday.
Streams and creeks are the biggest concern in Beaver County.
RELATED LINKS:
Emergency Management Officials Watching Rivers, Streams, Creeks (2/21/14)
More Bolivar News
More Westmoreland County News
More Reports by Christine D'Antonio
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