Ida In Pittsburgh: Disasters Declared After Major Flash Flooding

PITTSBURGH, PA — The cleanup effort is underway in southwestern Pennsylvania after the remnants of Hurricane Ida caused significant flash flooding, closed schools and prompted several evacuations on Wednesday.

Three Allegheny County municipalities - Millvale, Bridgeville and Scott - have declared disasters. County executive Rich Fitzgerald said that he expected additional municipalities to do the same.

No deaths or injuries were directly attributable to the storm. A body was pulled from the Allegheny River in Plum Wednesday afternoon, but it wasn't immediately clear if the man's death was related to the river's rising waters.

Portions of southwestern Pennsylvania received more than 4 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. That prompted heavy call volumes to the county's 911 system, Fitzgerald said.

No rain is in the forecast for Thursday.The weather service initially predicted the Ohio River could flood portions of Downtown Pittsburgh and the North Shore, but water levels are running lower than initially forecast.

Numerous roads had to be closed in and around Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Communities that experienced road closures because of high water or downed trees included Ross, Baldwin, Upper St. Clair, Peters, North and South Fayette, Shaler, O'Hara, Collier, Bridgeville, West Deer, Oakdale, Sewickley and White Oak.

A portion of the inbound Parkway East in Edgewood was briefly closed after a tree fell onto the road and blocked all lanes.

In Shaler, about 50 students who were on a school bus trapped in high water on Seavey Road Wednesday morning were successfully evacuated, Shaler police reported.

The Oakdale police and fire stations had to be evacuated because of rising water. The fire station has approximately one foot of water, and the water was about 18 inches high throughout the town.

As bad as the situation was locally, it was worse in eastern Pennsylvania. At least three potential tornadoes touched down in the Philadelphia area on Wednesday.

Be the first to know what's happening in your community and region. With a free Patch subscription, you'll always be up to date on local and state news: https://patch.com/subscribe.