[KittySkyfish]

MysticWolf, I hope you're alright!

My mom lives in this region and it looks like Ivan dumped 6+ inches of rain on them.

From: http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/...88/detail.html

Heavy Flooding Reported Throughout Western Pa.

Hughes Lake dam may be in danger of failure. Be on alert in Hanover Township, Beaver County; Hanover Township, Washington County; and Hancock County, W.Va. -- specifically in Hancock, along Kings Creek to the Ohio River, the north fork of Kings Creek and Hardins Run. A National Weather Service watch for potential dam failure is effective until 4 a.m. Saturday in Beaver and Washington counties, and Hancock County, W.Va.



Mandatory evacuation orders are in effect for lower Shaler, Etna, West Deer and Indiana Township.



Shaler and Millvale officials are asking people trapped in their homes to go to the highest level of the house. Do not attempt to leave. Emergency personnel are conducting evacuations at this time and will get to trapped residents as soon as possible.



Butler County commissioners have issued a state of emergency declaration.



6:15 p.m. Allegheny Power has between 10,000 and 12,000 customers without electricity. The hardest-hit areas are Apollo, Leechburg, Kittanning and Avella. Allegheny power crews will be working through tomorrow to restore service.



6:15 p.m. Duquesne Light has 35,000 customers without power, and the number is expected to increase. Most outages were caused by downed trees. Many customers are expected to remain in the dark until Saturday night and Sunday.



5:38 p.m. Flooding reported at Route 909 and Greensburg Road in the Crystal Springs area of Plum. The underpass on Route 356 is flooded out and shut down.



5:09 p.m. McKnight Road northbound in Ross Township is completely closed.



4:51 p.m. Brandt School Road flooded and closed near Soergel's in Franklin Park.



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Resources

Emergency Shelters
H.S. Football Postponements
Video: Port Authority Service Troubles
Slideshow: Flooding Pictures

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4:50 p.m. Route 28 closed in Harmarville and south



4:45 p.m.:



PennDOT says Route 8 in Butler County is closed near the Allegheny County line.



Route 8 south in Shaler is underwater from Duncan Avenue to Etna.



Police say the following roads are closed in Pine Township: Spang, Pleasant Hills, Knob Hill, Freeport, Woodland. Red belt is closed from Markman Park to the Beaver County line.



City Councilman Doug Shields says Streets Run creek has breached the flood wall at the rear of Calera Street in the Hays seciton of Pittsburgh. Calera is under a foot of water. Commercial Road closed. Roadway under water at Frick Park. Nine Mile Run connecting Squirrel Hill to Swisshelm Park flooded.



Flooding is reported on Route 51 from Bausman Street to Route 88. Cars are stuck in high water, and some people are reported;ly inside.



Flooding reported on Farragut Street in Ross Township.



Students in South Fayette elementary and middle schools, Fort Cherry schools, Cecil elementary and intermediate, Muse Elementary, Hills hendersonville and West Allegheny schools are remaining in those buildings because of road flooding. Parents can pick up children.



Flaugherty Run Road in Moon is flooded. Montour Run Road in Robinson is flooded.



4:20 p.m. Port Authority spokeswoman Judi McNeil reports that several bus routes have been stopped or delayed. Buses can't get near flooded portions of Babcock Blvd., Becks Run Rd., Idlewood Rd., Toms Run Rd., McLaughlin Rd., Cedar Blvd., Route 51, Route 60, Saltsburg Rd., Frankstown Rd. and McKnight Rd. Buses can't service East Ohio Street in Millvale, Butler Street in Etna, Main Street in Sharpsburg, Beechwood Blvd and Forward Avenue in Squirrel Hill. The Library trolley line is shut down between Washington Junction and Library.



4:20 p.m. Traffic backups to the Veterans Bridge are reported on McKnight Road. Water is reportedly up to the middle of cars in some spots.



4:06 p.m. Channel 4 Action News viewer Sandy Hill Rd. in Valencia / Middlesex twp. / Butler county is flooded and closed.



4:02 p.m. Shaler Township has declared an emergency and mandatory evacuation has been issued for West Etna



4 p.m. Tri Borough Expressway in Wilmerding is flooded and a landslide is reported in the area.

[MysticWolf]

All's well here where I am! We're incredibly lucky because there are 2 creeks running along 2 sides of our property and we're about a 2 minute walk from the Monongahela River. There's hardly any water in our basement; just a couple inches by the basement door and that's it. The creeks have already started going back down, and the River isn't much higher than usual. But lots of surrounding areas are flooded with anywhere from 5 to 12 feet of water; and in some areas they're being evacuated but all the surrounding roads are closed so there's no way for people to leave. One of the rescue boats capsized about 20 minutes ago and they still haven't found anyone that was in the boat. Somebody up there must really love me for there to not be any problems here.

[KittySkyfish]

A rescue boat capsized? OMG. This is just terrible.

I'm glad you're doing alright! Keep us posted on future developments, okay?

Can you imagine the amount of rain your state has had in the past month? Sheesh! All these tropical systems have really make a huge impact on your area, as well as of course the whole Eastern US. It's just nuts.

Originally Posted by MysticWolf

All's well here where I am! We're incredibly lucky because there are 2 creeks running along 2 sides of our property and we're about a 2 minute walk from the Monongahela River. There's hardly any water in our basement; just a couple inches by the basement door and that's it. The creeks have already started going back down, and the River isn't much higher than usual. But lots of surrounding areas are flooded with anywhere from 5 to 12 feet of water; and in some areas they're being evacuated but all the surrounding roads are closed so there's no way for people to leave. One of the rescue boats capsized about 20 minutes ago and they still haven't found anyone that was in the boat. Somebody up there must really love me for there to not be any problems here.

[MysticWolf]

I just spoke with my mom and found out that my step dad hasn't been able to make it home from work yet because of all the closed roads. Some roads have opened up, so hopefully he'll be able to make it home soon. He calls her every couple of minutes to let her know where he is and that he's ok. I hope he makes it home soon.

2 of the fire fighters that were in the resuce boat have been found, they managed to get onto the roof of a house; but there were 2 more in the boat who they haven't found yet. They think that one of them may also be on one of the roof tops but they aren't sure. From the pictures on the news it's hard to tell because it's getting a bit foggy. And now of course it's starting to get dark and cold which doesn't help. There are a lot of people trapped in their homes and they can't leave because the water is just too high for them to leave. There are at least 50,000 people without power, too.

We're all pretty much in an official state of emergency, including the county I live in. But like I said, things are calm here and no problems. We're keeping an eye on things though because it is still raining, so the creeks could start coming back up again even though they're going down at the moment.

Really not much news besides that. There will be more briefings aroun 10-11 pm tonight concerning any injuries/deaths (none reported so far) and damage and whatnot. I'll update ya when I can!

[MysticWolf]

Just got an update that all 4 fire fighters who were in the rescue boat that had capsized have been found! One had a broken arm but besides that they are all ok!

[KittySkyfish]

MysticWolf, thank you so much for your updates! I talked to my mom and she's doing okay (she lives in Beaver, PA). She was more concerned about my brother in Fredericksburg, VA, since those guys were under tornado warnings earlier this evening.

I hope the weather improves and you stay dry and safe.

[MysticWolf]

For the most part things are calming down now. There are still a lot of people who need rescued, including about 14 people who are stranded on a bridge. The rivers won't crest till approximately 6 pm tomorrow, which means flooding isn't over and our house could get flooded too. My Grandpap always said that the river gets high enough to get in our basement about every ten years and it's been just about ten years since the river got into our basement. So we'll see.

For now it's bed time. I will see everyone tomorrow and give any updates that come along!

[MysticWolf]

Well no updates really. The rivers aren't coming up nearly as much as we thought they would. Our yard is a little swampy but that's the extent of it here. The last I heard there was the possibility of one person being missing, but no one was sure. There were not many injuries, and clean up has started in the places where the water has receded completely. It'll probably be a couple weeks before all the roads are cleaned up and longer till all the homes and businesses are back to normal.

[KittySkyfish]

Here's some pics from www.thepittsburghchannnel.com