The City of Butler declared a state of emergency following Wednesday night's flooding between Miller and West Cunningham streets.

“There is imminent danger of more flooding in this area, which endangers life, as a result of which emergency repairs are necessary to preserve life, health and property,” it was stated in a city news release.

The declaration of emergency is in effect for five days. Butler Mayor Tom Donaldson said the city will likely extend the state of emergency to up to 30 days “to maintain the safety of the neighborhoods.”

Heavy rainfall — three inches in 90 minutes — caused Sullivan Run to overflow onto streets, and into homes and vehicles late Wednesday night.

There were no serious injuries or deaths, but emergency responders still are working on the cleanup.

Municipal engineer Joe Gray was authorized to “conduct emergency repairs and to contract for the necessary labor and materials to perform the work as necessary to render the area temporarily safe, along with such other actions code official deems necessary to meet the emergency,” according to the news release.

The cost for emergency work will be paid for by the city's treasury. Donaldson said there is no monetary estimate of damage done by the floodwaters to property in the city.

Other developments

Also announced Thursday afternoon:

A curfew was instituted for the affected areas after dark.

“It should be unlawful for any person to be in the affected area who is not a resident of the area,” the news release stated.

Five large dumpsters were expected to be available this morning for storm-related trash, councilwoman Kathy Kline said.

They will be put into place by Vogel Disposal Service by the swinging bridge on West Diamond Street, Shiloh Baptist Church on Hayes Avenue, in the Battery Warehouse parking lot, at the entrance to Memorial Park on Miller Avenue and at the main entrance of Broad Street Elementary School.

Kline said she will try to eventually attain five more dumpsters for the cleanup effort.Those who want to be put on a list to have their basement pumped should contact the fire department at 724-283-3100.First United Methodist Church is handing out cleaning supplies, garbage bags and personal hygiene products that were donated Thursday.The American Red Cross will provide shelter at First English Lutheran Church at 241 N. Main St.The Red Cross also is stationed at the Butler City Fire Department at 110 N. Washington St. and is handing out cleanup kits to residents.Kline said blockage created by debris was cleared from Sullivan Run to ensure flooding doesn't happen again.“My goal is to try to alleviate a lot of the anxiety that our neighbors and our community are experiencing, (so they know) that they're not in this alone,” Kline said. “We're going to work as a community until everybody gets back to some sense of normalcy.”The American Red Cross assessed property damage in the area. Once finalized, the Red Cross' assessment list will be used by other emergency services and disaster relief groups to organize relief and cleanup efforts.Donaldson said the city is waiting on the assessments of Red Cross and Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to attempt to acquire disaster relief funds.However, county commissioner Leslie Osche said Thursday it is “unlikely” that the level of damage will warrant state and federal relief.Several businesses also were affected by the flooding. Donaldson said the timeline for them to reopen will be on a business-by-business basis.He also said he expects closed restaurants to take longer to open because they'll need health inspections.One-hundred residents had their electricity and gas turned off for safety reasons. Donaldson said FirstEnergy is in the process of turning electricity back on.