Swift Water Teams Rescue 2 People, Dog Trapped In Car On Flooded Route 28
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Route 28 was shut down in both directions, and rescue teams had to be called in Wednesday night because of flooding between the 40th and 31st Street Bridges.
Two people and a dog were rescued from their stranded car that got stuck in the fast-rising water near the 40th Street Bridge.
It's estimated nearly three-feet of water cascaded down the steep Troy Hill hillside and ponded on the roadway.
KDKA's Lindsay Ward Reports:
The Pittsburgh Swift Water Rescue Team, made of police, firefighters, and paramedics, along with Millvale first responders took part in the rescue operation.
"When we arrived, we found two occupants that were inside the vehicle," said Greg Tersine, the crew chief of the Pittsburgh Paramedic crew. "The vehicle submerged up to the level of the middle of the doors, to the doors. We were able to deploy our boats from the northbound lane of Route 28, and with our crew, we were able to extricate them safely. Two were trapped inside the vehicle and also a service animal that was inside the vehicle that we were able to rescue."
The occupants of the car and the dog were not injured and the car had to be towed from the scene.
Many areas in the Pittsburgh area are prone to flooding when there's a lot of rain over a short period of time, but Route 28 isn't normally one of those.
"We've never had that issue on Route 28 southbound, that's the first time I've ever experienced flooding there," said Tersine. "I believe it was a lot of rain on Spring Hill that led to a lot of flooding on 28 and the jersey barrier kind of held all the water back on that southbound lane."
PennDOT believes the flooding could be attributed to clogged inlets in that area of Route 28.
Both lanes were reopened overnight.