Wet roads, toppled trees, downed lines
Eager trick-or-treaters across Butler County and the region experienced a soggy Halloween.
Most municipalities maintained their Halloween events and times Thursday, but eight postponed them due to anticipated heavy rain and strong winds,
Trick-or-treaters may have seen some light rain and heavy wind, but throughout the day and evening flooding occurred as 2.5 inches of rain fell in some areas.
Tom Butler, of Butler, handed out treats to children dressed as their favorite character, superhero and supervillain.
“We've been here since 1974, and we normally have 50 people in the first 20 minutes,” Butler said, adding how he didn't have more than 50 trick-or-treaters the entire night.
“This is the slowest Halloween for trick-or-treaters,” he said. “It's the lowest I've seen.”
Dispatchers called emergency services more than 25 times on Thursday to roads, basements and disabled vehicles due to flooding.National Weather Service of Pittsburgh had the county under a flood advisory from 3:30 to 6 p.m.Meteorologist Bill Modzelewski from the weather service said most of the smaller creeks and streams crested around 7 p.m. and should have receded on their own.“We had some bands of heavy rain that set up just ahead of the cold front,” Modzelewski said. “We had some clogged storm drains from leaves falling off the trees. So that made things just a little bit worse.”
Carl McKruit of Jefferson Township said Thorn Creek, which cuts through his backyard, crept over its banks.“We had quite a bit of water,” McKruit said.McKruit said there were other areas where Thorn Creek overflowed too, including across some roads.Southern Butler County appeared to be the hardest hit by flooding, with the majority of calls coming from that area.Weather service data showed Connoquenessing Creek had risen from about 2.5 feet to about 4.5 feet over the course of 12 hours.Modzelewski said rainfall in general near Evans City was about 2.58 inches, and throughout the county ranged from 1.5 to 2.5 inches.Flooded roads are not unusual during Butler County rainstorms, keeping many fire departments and road crews busy.Adams Township Fire Lt. Tyler Cuadrado said his crew had been called out quite a few times Thursday.“We've been kept pretty busy throughout the day, but nothing too notable,” he said. “The township road crew has been pretty good at handling a lot of those calls with the flooded roadways and such.”
More than 19 calls were received about downed trees and power lines.At its peak, West Penn Power reported 480 outages at press time, but some had been resolved earlier in the day.Many West Penn Power outages were in the areas of Center Township and Harmony. For Harmony, 133 of its 596 customers were without power for some time on Thursday.About 182 Butler County customers of Central Electric experienced outages, with the most being 96 of the 151 customers in Clay Township and 80 of 513 customers in Concord Township.
While the flooding could subside, the county still will experience strong gusts of wind Friday morning and afternoon, according to Modzelewski.The county was placed under a wind advisory around 3 p.m. Thursday.The advisory warned of gusts ranging from 15 to 50 mph.“We had the cold front that brought the rain, thunderstorms and flooding,” Modzelewski said. “Whenever we get that big difference in pressure, we can get some pretty gusty winds.Modzelewski said there is little chance the gusty weather continues into the weekend.“Winds should be diminishing later on through the day and be calm by (Friday) evening,” he said.For municipalities that changed their trick-or-treat times, they should see better weather conditions.Modzelewski said Butler County should see sunny conditions on Saturday and only partly cloudy conditions Sunday with temperatures in the 50s.
WHAT: Flood workshopWHEN: 10 a.m. and noon SaturdayWHERE: Butler City Fire Station, 110 N. Washington St.
Information mentioned during October's workshop:- A mobile application known as Code Red allows people to get notifications about impending disasters and emergencies sent directly to their phones.- One inch of water in a home can cost $25,000 in losses, according to Brian Sholes, an employee with Mitchell Insurance.- Standard flood insurances are underwritten by FEMA, which in turn is funded by taxpayers. There's a maximum limit of $250,000 in relief funds for each claim. More than that would need to be covered by a private, excess insurance policy that is separate from FEMA.- The fastest way to file a flood claim is using the website myflood.com. The Second best is calling 800-759-8656.-Take pictures for evidence of all flood damage, especially photographs that illustrate the high water mark.- Hydraulic cement is offered at most hardware stores. It consists of a powder that, when mixed with the right amount of water, takes on a doughlike consistency that can be slathered over a hole in a house's foundation to stop a leak. The cement can be applied even when water is rushing in, and it is quick to dry.- In the case of an expected emergency, such as a snowstorm, prepare all electronics by making sure they're fully charged.- In the case of power loss, a crank radio should be available, along with at least a five-day water supply.As a general rule, one person needs to drink at least one gallon of water per day.- Food and medicine should also be on hand.- In the case of flooding, do not try to walk into moving water that is above 4 to 5 inches high as it could sweep you off your feet.- Even with standing water, avoid wading in as there might be something dangerous in the water.- A foot of water will sweep away most sedans.- A foot-and-a-half of water will do the same for pickups and SUVs.- In case of power loss, shelters are available throughout the county. Everyone is eligible to stay in one overnight. Pets are generally accepted.- If you're interested in helping during emergencies, county officials advise volunteering with the Pennsylvania Volunteers, which will provide some basic training.
