Wall of water kills three on Highland Park road

A woman and her two children were killed and an elderly woman was missing after what witnesses described as a wall of water flooded Washington Boulevard in a torrential downpour that struck during Friday afternoon's rush hour.

The woman and children were trapped in a vehicle submerged in about 9 feet of water near the intersection of Washington and Allegheny River boulevards in Highland Park, said Michael Huss, Pittsburgh's public safety director.

An elderly woman who was trapped in her vehicle was unaccounted for, Huss said during an evening news conference.

Authorities did not identify the victims but said they are a woman and her two daughters, ages 8 and 12.

Firefighters and police were combing the woods surrounding Washington Boulevard, and a river rescue unit was searching the Allegheny River for the woman, Huss said.

City Emergency Management Deputy Director Ray DeMichiei, who lives near Washington Boulevard, said he and three Zone 5 police officers — Robert Smolinski, Tim Werner and Steve Sywyj — borrowed rowboats from a nearby marina and rescued people from the raging water before other emergency responders arrived.

"We were rescuing one gentleman who was in a tree, and we were over top of the vehicle the victims were in," DeMichiei said. "We didn't even know there was a vehicle below us."

Police Chief Nate Harper said 18 vehicles were stranded in the high water and 11 people were rescued. One of the rescued women required hospital treatment.

Huss said he did not know what caused the flooding but that all the manhole covers along Washington Boulevard were blown off by the force of the water.

"There was a tremendous amount of force from the water," he said. "The force of the water pinned the (victims') vehicle against a tree."

Rihaan Gangat, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said 2.1 inches of rain fell in about an hour in the area of Washington Boulevard during the afternoon storm.

A number of motorists told stories of scrambling from their vehicles after they were engulfed in rushing water.

"The water was over the roof and up to my ankles," said Rhodearland "Bob" Bailey of Penn Hills. "I can swim a little bit and was looking at a tree branch. I heard one woman yelling for help, but the water was coming down so fast, I couldn't see. I'm 79 years old, and I've never seen nothing like this in my life. Lord have mercy."

"The manhole covers started popping up, and it looked like the road exploded and the waters came up really fast," said Tara Howes, 34, of Gibsonia. "I saw people swimming on the sides of the road. It was pretty scary."

The Washington Boulevard corridor — situated in a valley between Highland Park and the complex that houses the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center and the state's nursing home for veterans — has experienced severe flooding in the past.

Rushing water from a July 18 storm in which 1.87 inches of rain fell in one 30-minute period rose so quickly that a number of vehicles stalled along the busy roadway, forcing emergency responders to pluck motorists from their vehicles. The flooding caused a section of the road to buckle.

In June 2009, storms washed debris onto the roadway and city officials shut it down from Allegheny River Boulevard to Frankstown Avenue so crews could make it passable.

Yesterday afternoon's thunderstorm was preceded by an intense morning downpour that knocked out power for about 1,750 Duquesne Light customers, according to Joey Vallarian, a spokesman for the utility. Allegheny Power reported 1,764 customer outages in the region.

An additional 8,400 Duquesne customers lost power when the afternoon storm struck, Vallarian said.

Between 3 and 4 inches of rain fell in the region during the day, according to the National Weather Service in Moon.

Just after 3 p.m., Pittsburgh International Airport officials grounded flights because lightning posed a danger to workers, said spokeswoman JoAnn Jenny.

During a two-hour span, 15 flights were delayed and one to New York's LaGuardia Airport was canceled, according to the flight tracking website FlightStats.com.

The morning rainstorm caused a power outage for an estimated 1,750 Duquesne Light customers.

About 10:30 a.m. in Oakland, a power substation flooded, said Vallarian.

Traffic in the neighborhood became gridlocked because many motorists failed to stop at nonworking traffic signals, said city police Sgt. James Vogel.

The power outage prompted the University of Pittsburgh to close offices and send its employees home after several hours without electricity, according to John Fedele, a university spokesman.

A number of eateries and shops along Fifth and Forbes avenues near campus were shut down because of the lack of power.

UPMC Presbyterian and Montefiore hospitals operated on emergency power, officials said.

As a precaution, the hospital postponed some elective surgeries scheduled for yesterday and is opening some operating rooms today for surgeries, said Susan Manko, a UPMC spokeswoman.

"The Presby ER is fully operational under emergency power," she said. "We've rescheduled some appointments for outpatient clinics in the Falk and Kaufmann buildings," which were under emergency power. "We are able to divert power where it needs to be, and we are in constant communication with Duquesne Light."

Magee-Womens Hospital was not affected by the power outage, she said.

Emergency responders throughout the region were kept busy throughout the night responding to calls for downed power lines and trees, flooded basements and stranded motorists. About 30 homes in the city's Greenfield Run area were flooded.

The storm produced nickel-sized hail in parts of Washington and Beaver counties. Heavy rains caused a landslide in Patterson, Beaver County, though no injuries were reported.

Lightning is believed to have struck a home in Mt. Washington, but city 911 dispatchers said no fire resulted.

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