Predictions for a mostly rainy weekend, coming on top of about 5 inches of rain that have fallen in Butler County so far this month, leave emergency responders wondering how busy they will be.

Steve Bicehouse, the county’s emergency services director, said the greatest concern for county officials was unexpected flooding in areas that aren’t normally viewed as at-risk.

He said areas that border waterways like the Connoquenessing and Breakneck creeks and Glade Run were already on officials’ watch list, as was the Harmony area.

“What we’ve run into recently is those unexpected areas, like Bruin, that are getting hit hard,” Bicehouse said.

Bruin isn’t near any major waterways, Bicehouse said, but still has experienced flooding from minor streams.

In Butler, Fire Chief George Ban said he anticipated as many as 10 calls related to flooding this weekend, and advised people keep an eye on young children if high water hits.

“We certainly have a lot of water around the city, and we don’t exactly have protections in place,” Ban said. “People need to think before they get too close to the water. A foot of water can take you off your feet.”

Ban said potential flooding problems in the city have dramatically improved from years ago. Ban said that is mostly due to sewer authority improvement projects, which have addressed drainage and backflow issues.

“Five to 10 years ago when we had rains of this nature, we often had several hundred calls from the west end of the city,” Ban said.

In Butler Township, Chief Toby Weir of Butler Township Fire District 3 said his department hasn’t experienced anything unusual so far this June.

Weir said the township has temporarily closed flooded roads in recent weeks,

“With the amount of rain we’ve been getting, the ground’s saturated,” Weir said. “I expect we’ll get several calls for flooded basements.”

Chris Calhoun, assistant chief of Team 300, the county’s water rescue team, said the rain represents a “significant problem.”

“Right now we’re kind of in a perfect storm in that the water table is completely saturated,” Calhoun said. “It doesn’t take much at this point for the creeks and tributaries to quickly rise.”

Calhoun said the rescue team hasn’t been used this year, and the county had “dodged the bullet” with respect to flash flooding thus far.

In the Portersville and Muddy Creek Township areas, Chief Tim Saunders said the department’s service area, which encompasses the township and Portersville, has been “fairly fortunate,” though flooding calls have been up this year.

In the past month, Saunders said, the department has responded to about four calls for flooded roads and homes.

“Honestly we’ve had more wires and trees down because of the wind than flooding,” Saunders said.

He said the department is on “a little bit heightened awareness,” because of the expected rainfall, and said residents should be prepared for power outages.

In Zelienople, Assistant Chief Scott Garing of the Zelienople Volunteer Fire Department, said the company has responded to 30 to 40 calls in the past month. Those came as a result of downed power lines and trees, as well as flooded basements and one vehicle that was abandoned last week in floodwaters along Front Street.

Chief Rob Reeb said Connoquenessing Creek is nearly at flood stage, and many department volunteers have called off weekend plans to stay on-call.

Reeb said the county also has kept its water rescue team in the county this weekend, canceling a training drill in Oil City.

“We’re just preparing for something that will hopefully go around us,” Reeb said.

Jake Weiland, assistant park manager at Moraine and McConnells Mill state parks, said water levels are the highest he’s seen since coming here five years ago.

He said some of the docks on Lake Arthur are submerged.

The courtesy dock at Davis Hollow Marina is closed as is the fuel station.

Weiland said the park is bracing for even more rain this weekend.

“We’re going to be met with even more challenges,” he said.

Gary Pinkerton, director of the county parks department, said the rain hasn’t hurt events or attendance at Alameda Park.

“Unless it’s a thunderstorm, we don’t cancel,” Pinkerton said of events at the park.

He added the shelters at the park allow for most events to continue on, rain or shine.

Pinkerton added he has been surprised to see many people continue using the pool through rain storms.

Plumbing and appliance centers in Cranberry Township are preparing for more rain this weekend.

Plumbing services have been getting calls this month because of the rain.

Don Ball, business manager for Mr. Rooter, said the company has received 25 to 30 calls a day for two weeks from groundwater and main line flooding into homes.

“It’s one of the busiest times of the year for us. For the last two weeks, we’ve been slammed,” Ball said. I can’t remember the last time it rained this much.”

Ball said there isn’t much people can do to prevent flooding in their homes since it can happen with almost no warning.

However people can check their water drainage to see if it flows well.

“That water is somehow going to find the main city line,” Ball said.

Dehumidifiers are also in high demand.

Sears Harmony co-owner Lorie Thompson said she has sold 10 dehumidifiers and 10 Shop Vacs in the past week.

“It’s a way for them to prepare for flooding and the upkeep,” she said.

General Rental Center has also seen surges of equipment being rented out.

Sales manager Heather Rodgers said people have been renting water pumps and carpet blowers.

“We have seven carpet blowers,” she said. “Last week all seven went out.”

Out of the eight water pumps the rental center has, only one was available as of Friday.

Eagle staff writers Phil Rau, Will DeShong and Amerigo Allegretto contributed to this report.