Severe Flooding Taking Toll On Eastern Pa.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The remnants of Tropical Storm Lee continue to take their toll on Pennsylvania.
President Obama has signed an emergency declaration for the state and is offering federal aid in addition to the support already in the state.
The Susquehanna River has started to recede, and after days of rainfall, communities are flooded from New York to Virginia. It's being called the worst flooding in more than 60 years.
But in Wilkes-Barre, the river crested below the top of the city's levees.
The remnants of Tropical Storm Lee have led to what one Accuweather meteorologist called a "fire hose" of downpours.
More than 100,000 people had to be evacuated in Pennsylvania. Wilkes-Barre and Harrisburg suffered the greatest damage from the swollen Susquehanna River. At least four people have been killed.
"We had to be taken out on a dump truck, like a crane or something, and there was water everywhere," said one resident. "We couldn't even walk in the street."
From the air or on the ground, the view never changed. Some areas even appear to be from the war torn Middle East.
Gov. Tom Corbett put it best when he said, "we face a clear public health emergency."
Rven the governor's mansion wasn't spared. The National Guard filled sandbags and moved furniture from the first floor.
Streets, houses and cars - complete towns submerged under water.
Swift water rescue teams from all over the state have been sent in to help. Ron Geary, a firefighter from Bradenville, Westmoreland County told KDKA-TV that he and his team left Tuesday morning.
"We've gone as far as a 30-hour stretch where it was nothing but back-to-back rescues," he said. "We did have to remove residents from townhouses, people stuck in cars in the flood water. We have gone out and rescued quite a few of them."
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