Toni and Tom Swick can remember the first time water crept into their North Sewickley home — it was 2011. They were just moving into the house on Mckim Way. Boxes were swept away before the couple had time to even unpack them.
Since then, they have raised their home on stilts, nine feet higher off the ground, but that doesn’t always help. Floodwater from Connoquenessing Creek has flooded their home at least six times, including three times in one year, Mr. Swick said Saturday.
Throughout the Pittsburgh region, other families, businesses and governments are dealing with the same kinds of problems. Heavy rain over the past week pushed rivers and creeks far over their banks areawide, to the highest levels in two decades, leaving a muddy mess that now has to be cleaned up.
The Swicks represent a microcosm of what a lot of people face as the waters now quickly recede.
Whenever a flood warning is issued, the Swicks fall into a familiar routine — they move everything out of the basement, head for higher ground and tie two kayaks to the top of their porch in case a quick escape is necessary.
When the creek recedes, they assess the damage, haul out the cleaning supplies and put everything back where it was.
Rain that began Tuesday resulted in one of the highest flood levels the couple has seen since they moved into their home in the Beaver County community, Mr. Swick said.
It was also the highest rainfall ever recorded in the region on April 2, said Lee Hendricks, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Moon. That day, 2.68 inches of rain was recorded, smashing the previous record, 1.49 inches set in 1977.
Between March 30 and Thursday, the weather service recorded a total of 4.28 inches of rain.
"It was the perfect situation, the perfect storm," Mr. Hendricks said.
While the Swicks were prepared, some of their neighbors weren’t. Damage to creek-side homes without stilts was so severe that many residents were forced to evacuate.
"Some of them are new and we tried to help them," Mr. Swick said. "We told everybody we could that you need to get out if [your house] isn't raised."
About 10 families in the North Sewickley area had to be rescued during the flooding, said Eric Brewer, the emergency management coordinator for Beaver County.
He said firefighters went into the area to urge people to evacuate, but some refused. But when water rose so high that they could not leave, water rescue personnel moved in to evacuate them.
Mr. Brewer said at least one of those families had not yet been able to return home and was being assisted by the Red Cross.
A preliminary assessment of the flood damage countywide probably won’t meet the threshold for a disaster declaration, meaning no government funding will be available to help residents. Mr. Brewer said that was “frustrating.”
"Unfortunately, the local municipalities, the county, we don't have money set aside for disasters," he said.
"Telling people that they can't go back into their house that they've lived in for 50 years is not a good situation," Mr. Brewer said. "It's not a good feeling for me."
In Bridgewater, the Beaver River flooded several businesses along Riverside Drive, another area susceptible to high water, Mr. Brewer said.
"All the places along the river flood their basements and more," said Fran Benedict, manager at Jerry's Curb Service on Riverside Drive. He was lucky — the restaurant is on the other side of the road from the river. Mr. Benedict said that on only once had the water come up so high as to affect his business.
"It was 20 years ago, but the river looked just like how it did on [Tuesday]," Mr. Benedict said.
Beaver County was not the only county that was hard hit.
Cassandra Kovatch, public safety spokeswoman for Westmoreland County, said towns along the Youghiogheny River, such as Sutersville and West Newton, reported residential damage.
"The Red Cross has been engaged in helping flood victims with cleaning supplies, and the county is working with the Westmoreland County Human Services and Preparedness Coalition to help flood victims recover," Ms. Kovatch said.
Things were returning to normal in Allegheny County, but several roadways remained closed because of landslides or flooding:
• Saxonburg Boulevard south of Berryhill Road in O’Hara.
• Bunola River Road between River Hill Road and Elkhorn Road in Elizabeth Township.
• Church Hollow Road between Raccoon Run Road and Elkhorn Road in Forward.
• Ella Hollow Road between Guffey Road and Rainbow Run Road in Forward.
At the Point in Downtown Pittsburgh, the Ohio River had receded to a level of 19.7 feet by Saturday evening, down from a high mark of 28.4 feet on Thursday. Flood stage is 25 feet. The fountain at the Point was fully visible Saturday, but a heavy layer of mud coated its walkways.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation on Saturday reopened the 10th Street Bypass between Fort Duquesne Boulevard and the Fort Duquesne Bridge. It had been closed since Wednesday because of rising water.
In Washington County, a flooded Pigeon Creek nearly covered the entirety of Bentleyville’s Richardson Park, and the water washed away a small footbridge.
Mayor Tim Jansante grew up on the street right behind the park and said Pigeon Creek would sometimes creep toward his backyard.
“But there was never [a time] where that whole park was flooded like it was last time,” he said.
The flooding — not just in the park but around the community — prompted the mayor to declare a state of emergency in the borough.
“A part of that was to try to help the people that had damage to their homes and the roads and stuff,” he said. “If you don’t … you’re not eligible to recover any of that money that people are out because of these dire circumstances.”
Beyond that, Mr. Jansante said, the declaration helped drive home to residents that they should stay off the roads.
“That was the primary reason,” he said. “Trying to recover the money — that was secondary.”
The park, which is bordered on three sides by the creek, had already been cleaned up for the most part. On Saturday, some mud-stained walkways and lingering leaf debris clinging to fences and benches were all that remained.
“Our guys went down there as soon as the water receded,” he said.
A local business owner has already offered to replace the park’s footbridge.
First Published: April 7, 2024, 12:03 a.m.
Updated: April 7, 2024, 12:31 a.m.
