Flooding impacting roads and businesses around Philadelphia, greater Delaware Valley
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The rain mostly moved out Monday morning, but flooding and ponding on roads continue to impact people around the region.
Kelly Drive was closed in both directions Monday evening from the Falls Bridge to West Hunting Park Avenue.
"It's just crazy. It's holding up traffic that's for sure," one driver said.
"I should've brought a canoe," another said. "Where's my paddle board? That's what I need."
At Mount Zion Cemetery in Collingdale, Pennsylvania, the Wilson family of West Philadelphia found generations of loved ones' tombstones submerged in high water.
"Whenever it rains this happens," Amanda Wilson said. "This is the worst we've seen it."
In other parts of Philadelphia, flooding closed part of Columbus Boulevard and Delaware Avenue between Spring Garden and Christian Streets, according to the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management.
PennDOT is reporting dozens of traffic impacts and travel delays due to flooding, both around the Philadelphia area and across the state.
According to the National Weather Service, the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia is close to reaching the minor flood stage. In Montgomery County, the Perkiomen Creek at Graterford reached a moderate flood stage Monday morning.
The National Weather Service reports that the Schuylkill River's gage height nearly doubled because of the rainfall.
In Montgomery County, Lower Moreland Police shut down Philmont Avenue at Red Lion Road earlier in the morning due to flooding. Bucks County Emergency Management also reported minor flooding at multiple locations, including South Sugan and Old York Road in New Hope, Ridge Valley near Allentown Road, Branch Road near Blooming Glen Road and Branch Road and Route 313.
In Collegeville, the basement and outdoor seating area flooded at Duck Inn Tap Room, but customers still came out to the bar and grill.
"We're set up for this," manager Jerry Garzone said, referring to flooding from the nearby Perkiomen Creek. "Everything is at least four or five feet off the ground."
A nearby basement waterproofing company said by noon it had received dozens of calls from homeowners dealing with flood damage.
"We'll probably hit 80 homes today," Paul Mathewson, of Waterproofing Basement Specialists, said. "So we got a little over a hundred calls today. Most of them we'll hit today, if not they'll fall into tomorrow or the rest of the week."
Doylestown Township Police added that several roads in the area are "impassable" and closed due to rising water, including Rickerts Road between Pine Run Road and Ferry Road and the intersection of Pine Run Road and Chapman Road.
Police in Maple Shade, New Jersey, closed Route 73 in both directions because of flooding.
In Upper Makefield, Bucks County, the Council Rock School District said Sol Feinstone Elementary School will be closed on Monday because of the weather.
In addition to the heavy rain, wind continues to be a factor Monday and thousands of people in Pennsylvania and New Jersey woke up without power. Earlier in the morning, PECO's outage map reported over 4,000 customers were impacted by more than 100 outages. Atlantic City Electric is still reporting more than 240 active outages impacting nearly 2,000 customers.
A Wind Advisory remains in effect for all shore points and Delaware beaches, where wind gusts could reach between 40-50 mph on Monday. In Philadelphia, winds will be closer to 15-20 mph throughout the day.
"You might want to stay home"
The storm battered the Jersey Shore with heavy rain and wind. Despite the soggy conditions, Barbara McCool and her husband went for a pre-dawn run with their four dogs on the Ocean City boardwalk.
"We took a peek this morning and we said, 'Should we go for it?'" McCool said. "And we decided to go for it."
McCool said the sound of the howling wind woke her up.
"I got up at 2 o'clock, went to check outside and our cars were almost flooded under," McCool said. "We live down in the Gardens and so my husband — I got him up and we had to move the cars in the middle of the night to make sure they didn't get submerged."
There was also flooding on Fifth Street.
Elizabeth Hallinan said driving in these conditions was treacherous.
"People really have to go slowly," Hallinan said. "Luckily, I'm in a Jeep, so my car can handle it, but if you're low to the ground, you might want to stay home."
Contributing to the flooding — storm drains clogged with leaves.
But the storm wasn't enough to stop some people from hitting the gym for a game of pickleball.
"If I wasn't a pickleball addict, I'd probably stay home," Karl Benzio said. "But I wanted to come out, get my exercise in pickleball, but you just have to stay away from some of the side roads that are over by the bay or probably more underwater."
Some people said it's unusual to have a rainstorm like this in the middle of December and they said they wish it had been snowing instead. Others said they prefer the rain.
