Ice causes some flooding at Brady
BRADYS BEND TWP, Armstrong County — Ice on the Allegheny River led to some flooding over the weekend.
Early Sunday morning, ice jams on the river just north of East Brady in Bradys Bend Township led to the river rising several feet after 3 a.m.
Some residents on Seybertown Road had to be evacuated from their homes due to the road flooding, according to the State Emergency Operations Center. They were allowed to return just before 7 a.m. when the water level began to drop.
Randy Brozenick, director of the Armstrong County Emergency Management Agency, said there really is no way for emergency crews to break up ice jams.
“You just have to wait until it flows back on its own,” Brozenick said.
Along the road, large piles of ice are visible along the shoreline while smaller pieces flowed down the river.
Alice Duty of Imperial, Allegheny County, owns a vacation home on Seybertown Road. She had heard about the rising waters and stopped by Tuesday morning to see if her home sustained any damage. It did not.
“Everything is perfect,” Duty said.
She said that the road is built up enough to keep most floodwaters from reaching the houses.
She also noted that a swing set near the shoreline was untouched by water or ice.
“The ice missed us by inches,” Duty said.
Brozenick said that there are still three areas on the river near here with ice blockages: one near a lock and dam north of Kittanning, another near the Reesedale Power Plant and one by Rimer Road in Madison Township, which flooded and remained closed Tuesday.
He could not predict whether those areas or others were at risk for any more flooding.
In East Brady right across the river in Clarion County, Mayor John Klein said that few problems were reported.
“Right now, the river is fairly clear,” Klein said Tuesday.
