3 killed in East End as storm floods streets
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Cars lie strewn about on Washington Boulevard near Highland Park after storms brought heavy rains and street flooding. -
Flood waters caused manhole covers to pop off on Washington Boulevard near Negley Run Boulevard. -
Paramedic Stacey Yaras, crew chief for Medic 14, walks Rhodearland "Bob" Bailey, 79, of Penn Hills away from the scene of a flash flood along Washington Boulevard at Allegheny River Boulevard on Friday. Mr. Bailey said he was on Washington Boulevard in his Oldsmobile Bravada when water began rising around the vehicle. He climbed out of a car window and stood on the roof -- water reaching up to his ankles -- before being rescued by boat.
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A woman and two children were killed and an elderly woman was missing Friday night after a flash flood -- with rushing water 9 feet deep in some places -- swept over Washington Boulevard in Highland Park/Lincoln-Lemington during rush hour.
Authorities did not disclose the identities of the victims, who were near Washington Boulevard and Allegheny River Boulevard, where water rose above the tops of stranded cars.
Police and firefighters used inflatable boats with paddles to rescue 11 people who were clinging to trees or stranded atop vehicles. One person was taken to a hospital.
Late last night, emergency workers were still searching for the missing woman. The search was being conducted on land and also by the Coast Guard and River Rescue in the nearby Allegheny River.
"We were able to grab numerous people," said Raymond DeMichiei, deputy director of the Pittsburgh office of Emergency Management. "Unfortunately, we were not able to grab all of them."
Eighteen cars and trucks were recovered when the water levels dropped.
Mr. DeMichiei said rescuers were helping a man from a tree branch along Washington Boulevard, unaware that their boat was floating over the vehicle with the woman and children inside.
Mr. DeMichiei said rescue workers floated directly over the car with the people in it, and "we never even knew they were there," he said. "The bottom of the boat didn't even scrape against the top of the car, to give you an idea of the depth we're talking about."
PG VIDEO: NEWS CONFERENCEAuthorities said the victims were trapped in the car when rising water pushed it against the tree and then rose over it.
Weather experts blamed the sudden storm, which lasted less than an hour, on a slow-moving front. It was followed by another storm, neither of which had winds strong enough to push quickly through the area.
"It was a big dump of rain," said Rihaan Gangat, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh. "We issued a flood warning at around 3:20 p.m., and the storm popped right over Pittsburgh at about 3:30."
First Published August 20, 2011 12:00 am
