Torrential rain leads to flooding
Torrential downpours Saturday caused flash flooding in parts of Butler County, closing roads and making for hazardous driving, and causing power outages and drenched basements.
Parts of the county also saw strong winds and hail that was described as being the size of a quarter, some smaller and some a bit larger.
The hardest hit areas seemed to be in the eastern and southern parts of the county.
“It sounded like machine gun fire hitting my (patrol) car,” said Penn Township police Cpl. Jack Ripper of the golf ball size hail that hit about 4 p.m.
Motorist stuck in high water
The rainfall was so heavy that a motorist got stuck in high water on Herman Road between Stutz Road and Simon Drive in Summit Township shortly before 5 p.m.By the time rescuers got there, the driver had gotten out of the stranded car and was safe in another vehicle, said Rob McLafferty, chief of the Herman Volunteer Fire Company.“The (motorist) had already called for a tow truck,” McLafferty said, “but the water was too deep for the tow truck.”The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation was notified and a crew shut down the road. The fire department and municipal road crews during the afternoon and evening also closed portions of seven other roads in Summit and Clearfield townships.Those roads included Stutz, Route 356 at Hinchberger Road, Geibel, Brinker, Clearfield, Osche and Schiebel. The roads were reopened by 9 p.m.
In Penn Township, police and road crews closed parts of Dutchtown and Crisswell roads.Butler Township floodingFlooded roads were also a problem in Butler Township. Authorities reported that on Route 8 below the McBride Station all five lanes were under several inches of water as were both southbound lanes on Route 8 near Vogel Road. Part of McCalmont Road also was flooded.Myranda Fullerton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, said between three-tenths of an inch and two inches or more of rain was recorded across Butler County on Saturday.“The flooding was scattered,” she said, “and it was dictated by where the stronger thunderstorm moved through.”The turbulent conditions, she noted, were caused by a deep low pressure system from the Midwest that combined with a warm front that drifted north.Too much rain hitting the ground too quickly for the ground to absorb caused water and debris runoff that was blamed for a one-vehicle accident about 5:10 p.m. on Route 268 in Parker Township.No one was injured in the crash that happened when the driver lost control of his pickup truck and struck an embankment, said Eric Feicht, chief of the Bruin Volunteer Fire Department.Feicht said flooding also forced the department to close Hook City Road between Route 268 and Daubenspeck Road that encompasses Bruin and Parker Township.The road remained closed from about 6 to 10 p.m.Downed treesHigh winds and softened ground saturated by the rainfall made conditions ripe Saturday and Sunday for trees to fall on power lines and utility poles.Shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday, downed trees and wires temporarily closed St. Joe Road in Oakland Township, said Gary Wulff, chief of the Oneida Valley Volunteer Fire Department. A West Penn Power crew later was on scene and took care of the power lines.Scattered power outages were reported in part of the county, authorities said. The service interruptions were relatively short lived.Water service to some customers was also temporarily interrupted by a water main break about 4 p.m. on Route 38 near Layton Road in Oakland Township, Wulff said.
On Sunday, reports of downed trees on roads and wires kept coming into the Butler County 911 center.Some of those affected roads were Victory Road in Jefferson Township; Saw Mill Run and South Eberhart roads in Butler Township; Red Brush Road in Cherry Township; Branchton Road in Marion Township; Prospect Road, in Forward Township; Rowan Road in Cranberry Township; and Eidenau Road in Jackson Township.The National Weather Service placed Butler County on a severe thunderstorm watch for part of the afternoon and a wind advisory from 2 to 9 p.m. Sunday.The forecast for Monday called for a chance of showers, mainly after 7 a.m., with a mostly cloudy sky and a high near 48. West winds of 10 to 14 mph will occasionally give way to gusts as high as 24 mph.The chance of precipitation is 40 percent with new rainfall between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. The low Monday will be around 35.On Tuesday, it will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 47, and north winds around 5 mph becoming calm in the afternoon.
