As the nearby creek rose to engulf their home, pool, shed and vehicles Sunday night, Mark and Patty Striner sat in pouring rain atop their house on Breakneck Road in northern Fayette County, wondering whether they would survive.
“I thought I was going to die. I thought I was going to drown,” said Patty Striner. “... It looked like an ocean coming up.”
Strong thunderstorms Sunday blasted parts of Western Pennsylvania, triggering heavy flash flooding that stranded people in some areas, destroying homes and roads and leaving weeks or months of cleanup ahead. No injuries were reported.
One area just northeast of Connellsville saw 5.12 inches of rain during a seven-hour span, according to the National Weather Service.
As the creek rose, the Striners grabbed flashlights and a metal ladder and headed for the roof.
After two hours, the water receded enough that the pair was able to get to a relative's home. On Monday morning, they returned to find their home ruined.
The force of the water cut away at their backyard, mangled their deck and ripped away a concrete support beam for an addition they constructed this year.
“I was going to cut the grass (yesterday),” Mark Striner said. “Good thing I didn't do that.”
Swift-water rescue teams Sunday were called to Route 119 in Bullskin, Fayette County, where multiple vehicles were stranded in high water, trapping people inside, and about 100 firefighters pulled dozens of people from their homes and cars, said Bullskin fire Chief Joe Liska.
“There was a good 4 or 5 feet of water on Route 119 last night,” Liska said. “There was at least 30 cars stuck.”
Kyle Quinn, the Bullskin emergency management coordinator, said it will take “weeks if not months” to undo the damage. Residents started Monday; rocks littered yards, and branches were strewn across Breakneck Road.
Torrential rains that flooded streets and highways in the area around Connellsville, a city of about 7,600, caused Mayor Greg Lincoln to declare a state of emergency. Connellsville City Council imposed a curfew on city streets from 7 p.m. Monday to 7:30 a.m. Tuesday for the public's safety and to prevent looting. Schools were closed or delayed.
Lincoln posted a message Sunday evening on Facebook urging residents in the flooded area to climb to the highest point in their homes.
“As soon as rescue boats arrive we will be coming to get residents out of danger,” he wrote. “... Please say a prayer for our town.”
Roads in Connellsville's Dutch Bottom neighborhood were caked in mud Monday afternoon. Heavy machinery cleared the streets while residents opened their doors and began cleaning out their homes. A huge pile of trash, couches, furniture and refrigerators sat near a basketball court submerged in several inches of water. Two boys rode their bicycles through the water.
The curfew in Connellsville is focused on Dutch Bottom, which is along Mountz Creek and was the hardest-hit, said Jeff Layton, city emergency management director and assistant fire chief at New Haven. Residents there don't have utilities, said Layton, who was involved in the decision.
The fire department used a boat to rescue 12 people from the neighborhood, he said.
“Some of the homes had 7 to 8 feet of water in them,” he said.
State, county and local officials were called in to assess damage, and volunteer organizations such as the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army planned to meet to coordinate some cleanup efforts, according to Roy A. Shipley, director of the Fayette County Emergency Management Agency. Officials from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency took photographs of the damage to determine if residents might be eligible for assistance.
In Allegheny County, the storms soaked “small pockets” with 2 to 3 inches of rain, the weather service said.
In Pittsburgh's Highland Park neighborhood, firefighters rescued several people in two vehicles stranded in high water on Washington Boulevard, city Public Safety spokeswoman Sonya Toler said. S tate police closed the inbound Parkway East at the Edgewood/Swissvale exit for about two hours Sunday because of debris on the roadway, according to Steve Cowan, a spokesman for PennDOT.
There were no issues with the Squirrel Hill Tunnel on Interstate 376, Cowan said.
Bob Firestone was waiting to be rescued Monday. The bridge connecting his home to Breakneck Road washed away, leaving him stranded on a strip of land between two creeks. His home is flanked by a second, smaller creek at the rear.
“It was very quick,” he shouted over the water. He hoped someone would pull his metal bridge from the raging waters.
Tribune-Review staff writers Madasyn Czebiniak and Tony Raap contributed.
