Mild, rainy forecast a dark cloud over flood watchers
-
Streets Run, the cause of flooding in Hays, runs between Calera Street, to the left, and Baldwin Road, right.
Share with others:
Streets Run gurgled peacefully through Pittsburgh's Hays neighborhood on Monday, well within its banks.
That might not be the case for long, and brothers Erwin and John Lewis were getting ready, moving cars, appliances and other valuables from their sister's Calera Street residence to higher ground.
"You do what you've got to do," said John Lewis, as he tinkered with a 1975 Ford Granada, partly covered with a blue tarp, in preparation for relocating it.
City officials held a meeting Sunday at Holy Angels Church to warn residents of flood-prone Hays about a looming combination of melting snow and expected rain later this week that could turn the placid creek into a destructive torrent.
The Lewises, veterans of several floods, were moving a washer, dryer, snowblower, lawn mower and other belongings from the creekside home on Monday, saying they took the city's warnings seriously.
They also complained about more than a decade of unkept promises by local authorities to stem the chronic flooding along Streets Run.
"We're paying taxes to those idiots," Erwin Lewis said.
The National Weather Service forecast calls for rain and highs approaching 60 degrees from Wednesday through Saturday. Snow in the Laurel Highlands, more than 4 feet deep in spots, has not begun to melt appreciably, but will on Wednesday, said hydrologist Bill Drzal. Rainfall from Thursday through Saturday could be as much as 1.5 inches.
"This does not look like a good situation," he said.
The Laurel Highlands and higher elevations in western Maryland and northern West Virginia drain into the Youghiogheny and Cheat rivers, which flow into the Monongahela.
Considerable unmelted snow also remains across the Allegheny River basin.
First Published March 9, 2010 12:00 am
