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County under water again

As rain continues to fall late Thursday, a resident tries to clear some floating debris in the 500 block of West Brady Street in Butler.

Residents and motorists awoke Friday morning to yet another round of flooding caused by melting snow combined with heavy rain.

Swollen creeks breaching their banks meant a multitude of road closings as well as flooded basements and lawns all over the county.

The usual spots, such as Meridian and Renfrew roads in Penn Township, Evergreen Mill Road near Harmony and West Brady Street between Snyder and Mitchell avenues in Butler, were inundated with the same muddy water that rose five weeks before.

In addition, one area that never floods found itself underwater Friday morning.

Around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, East Brady Street near Butler Memorial Hospital, — a road hardly in a flood zone — was also hit. “The rain caused all the mulch from the new parking lot to run down the street and it plugged up the stormwater drain,” said Butler Fire Department Capt. Ted Codispot. “There was about 2 feet of water just from the drain being plugged.”

Once the drain was opened, the water receded in short order.

“The street department handled the mess,” Codispot said.

The flooding Friday did not necessitate the closing of the bridge in Renfrew or require the services of the county's Swift Water Rescue Team, like the flooding on Jan. 12 did. But several homes along the creek endured flooded basements and outbuildings.

Mark Adomaitis of the swift water team said rescuers responded to a home in Connoquenessing Township Thursday night, where the elderly homeowners needed help getting to their car while runoff rushed under their mobile home.

The team was canceled en route to another call in which a motorist drove into standing water and found himself stranded. The motorist was able to get out of the flood water on his own.

The team was much busier during the Jan. 12 flooding, which was also caused by snow melt and heavy rain.“We've had 17 calls so far in 2018, which is our total for last year,” Adomaitis said.He said 14 of those calls came during the January flooding, when people were stranded in their homes and as water swiftly rose. The team used boats to move people to higher ground.The Connoquenessing Creek, Adomaitis said, typically runs at 3 to 4 feet at this time of year.“We are up over 12.5 feet right now,” he said Friday morning.During Hurricane Ivan in 2004, the creek rose to 13 feet and caused devastating flooding all along its course.Information on the height of the creeks and streams in the county is available to everyone at www.usgs.gov.Adomaitis said the main way to stay safe in weather situations like Friday's is to get out of a house immediately when it begins to appear that it could flood, leave for a destination early and never drive into standing water.“The most frequent call we get is people who think they can drive through standing water on a flooded road,” he said.The lack of calls Friday piqued Adomaitis' hopes that residents and motorists are following that advice.Still, he and the 30 water rescue team members stood at the ready, with boats, equipment and trailers parked at the Harmony Volunteer Fire Department.A flood watch, which signals the potential for flooding, was extended until 6 p.m. Friday, while a flood warning, which is more severe and signals flooding is imminent or occurring, was put in place until 2:30 p.m. Friday.

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The fl ooding on Friday did not necessitate the closing of the bridge in Renfrew or require the services of the county's Swift Water Rescue Team, like the flooding on Jan. 12 did. But several homes along the creek endured flooded basements and outbuildings.

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