Fire Chief: 'Monsoon Rain' Pounds Sharpsburg, Causes Flooding
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SHARPSBURG (KDKA) -- Severe weather caused problems all across the western Pennsylvania region Tuesday evening, knocking out power to many and causing some flash flooding issues.
One minute skies were clear, and the next, there was pounding rain.
Sheets of rain pelted drivers heading home from work during the evening rush hour on Route 28.
Over on flood-prone Washington Boulevard, the lights were flashing, but the flood gates were not lowered.
Sharpsburg took the hardest hit when the torrential rains came through as afternoon turned to evening.
"Oh my God, yeah. Like gangbusters. I never seen nothing like this," Sharpsburg resident Jeanne Eichner told KDKA's Kym Gable.
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Most the damage was along 6th Street near Clay and Main Streets. The force of the flash flooding ripped chunks of asphalt from the road.
Assistant Fire Chief Mike Daniher was there, along with other first responders from several departments.
"We had 20 minutes of monsoon rain, and it overcame the sewer system, and all the water is coming from the municipalities above us," said Chief Daniher.
They had to bring in heavy equipment, including a backhoe, to deal with the piles of debris. Officials say 6th Street was closed for several hours.
Elsewhere, the storms also caused some traffic back-ups and flooding in the North Hills.
Ross: Flooded road - 3400 block of Babcock Boulevard. Police are at the scene.
— Allegheny County (@Allegheny_Co) June 5, 2018
There was also a report of downed trees in the 4900 block of Wexford Bayne Road in Bradford Woods, and roadway flooding on Tarentum Culmerville Road in West Deer.
Numerous power outages were also reported by Duquesne Light and Penn Power, but by Tuesday night, most of those had been resolved.