Big storm pummels the region
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Becky Yeargers caught this image of a funnel cloud last evening from the back porch of her home in Upper St. Clair. -
A motorist sits stranded along Forbes Avenue in Oakland, just one of the region's roadways flooded by storm water tonight.
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Powerful thunderstorms tore through the region last night, spawning flash floods that stranded motorists, tornado sightings that brought fear of more destruction, and scattered power outages and road closings that affected thousands of people.
No injuries were reported, but about 30,000 customers of Duquesne Light and Allegheny Power lost electricity.
About 20 families had to be evacuated from their homes in Turtle Creek due to high waters.
Last night's rotating thunderstorms caused numerous sightings of funnel clouds in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, forecasters said, though there were no confirmed reports that a tornado had touched down.
Flash floods swamped the region. At least 2 to 3 inches of rain was believed to have fallen by 8 p.m. in some locations. At the National Weather Service office in Moon, 3.4 inches of rain was recorded, said meteorologist Richard Kane. Forecasters received reports that 3 inches of rain had fallen in Greensburg in an hour.
Among the hardest hit areas were Turtle Creek, where a torrent of water surged through the middle of town; Edgewood, where water nearly reached the tops of cars and closed off a ramp to the Parkway East; and in some parts of the East End, the water was so forceful it pushed parked cars in its path.
The storms prompted officials in Turtle Creek, Wilkinsburg and Reserve to declare a state of emergency.
High water trapped motorists and closed many roads. In Allegheny County, the East Busway was flooded; Second Avenue was impassable; the 10th Street Bypass was closed; Route 65 near Bellevue was reported flooded; and cars were abandoned on Washington Boulevard near Negley Run Road.
Throughout Pittsburgh's East End, streets were transformed into rivers. In neighborhoods including Squirrel Hill, Shadyside and Highland Park, emergency crews and passers-by rescued motorists from flooded cars, said Guy Costa, the city's public works director.
On Forbes Avenue, Northumberland Street and Ellsworth Avenue, he said, water sometimes approached the tops of cars. "There were many cars that tried to drive through the pools of water, and they got stranded," Mr. Costa said.
The City's River Rescue Team with help from Baldwin and Ross West View EMS, responded to 29 calls for people trapped in cars, and rescued 14 individuals, city officials said. After making a rescue on Second Avenue, paramedics transported one person with a leg injury.
City officials said last night they were sending a River Rescue boat and crew to Turtle Creek to assist rescuing residents from their homes.
Allegheny County Manager James Flynn said the 70 to 80 people who were evacuated from their homes in Turtle Creek were taken to a temporary shelter at East Allegheny High School in North Versailles. The Red Cross also set up a shelter at Pitcairn Volunteer Fire Department No. 1.
Emergency crews and residents were still tallying the damage last night.
"We've had flooding, trees down, minor landslides," Mr. Costa said. "We don't have anything major at this point."
Water was more than 3 feet deep as it crossed West Street and into Sarah Carter's driveway in Wilkinsburg, where several residents reported flooded basements.
Patricia Murphy was home with her daughter, Pam Funk, and granddaughter, Kaileen Funk, when rain started falling. Ms. Murphy ran upstairs to close windows, then heard a noise in the basement. When she went down stairs, water was pouring in through a wall.
"My daughter and I worked as fast as we could, but it was just overpowering," she said. The rushing water flipped floor to ceiling cupboards, leaving more than 3 feet of standing water in the basement.
Firefighters in the city and county battled several fires brought on by lightning strikes, including to one structure on the South Side.
In Westmoreland County, emergency crews worked to rescue several people from flooded homes in Irwin. Lawrence County dispatchers reported that lightning strikes at several homes had caused fires.
Last night's storms were spawned in eastern Ohio, where sunshine served to destabilize moist air that had been left behind from a warm front that spread north and east through Pittsburgh during the morning.
It brought with it many sightings of funnel clouds, and the weather service issued a tornado warning for parts of Allegheny and Westmoreland counties from about 7 to 7:30 p.m.
The advisory warned of an impending thunderstorm "capable of producing a tornado near Pittsburgh's South Side" and moving east at 15 miles per hour. Locations included in the warning included Downtown, the North Side, Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon, Bridgeville, McKees Rocks, Bethel Park, West Mifflin, Carnegie, and Baldwin.
"This storm is capable of producing nickle size hail and destructive straight line winds," the warning said. "Take cover now! If you wait to see or hear it coming it may be too late to get to a safe place."
Emergency dispatchers in Westmoreland County reported a funnel clouding sighting in Jeannette about 8 p.m., which was unconfirmed by the weather service. There also were reports of two possible tornado touchdowns as the first of two lines of thunderstorms crossed Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.
There were no immediate reports of tornado or other wind damage, and the touchdowns reported in the vicinity of North Versailles and Bessemer were not confirmed, forecaster Rich Redmond said.
After the tornado warning expired, a second wave of storms was still crossing the area but was not believed to have any tornadoes associated with it.
Duquesne Light said 22,400 customers were without electricity as of 10:30 p.m., with the largest concentrations of outages in Monroeville, Penn Hills, Forest Hills, Lawrenceville and Churchill.
Spokesman Joseph Vallarian said "we are still assessing the level of damage and are unable to provide a restoration time."
About 6,811 Allegheny Power customers were without electricity as of 10:30 p.m., with restoration expected today.
First Published June 18, 2009 12:19 am
