Avonmore officials assess damages after night of flash floods

Avonmore officials are beginning clean up efforts after a slew of rain caused flash flooding and damages to the borough.

“We had a whole lot of rain in a very short amount of time,” said Avonmore Borough Manager Cindy Rupert.

She said there was multiple cases of flash flooding in the town, effectively overwhelming the borough’s drainage system. Emergency services received multiple reports of basements filling with water.

“It took hours and hours to get everyone pumped out and deal with the small emergencies that come with flooding like shutting gas off,” Rupert said.

Rupert said in addition to the debris brought down with the flood waters, at least three homes in the borough are uninhabitable because of the floods. Displaced residents are being assisted by the Red Cross and family members, Rupert said.

Some businesses in the area decided to remain closed after Saturday night’s events.

“Today we’re assessing damage, cleaning and clearing debris in preparation for the next storm and we’re contacting all of our residents, especially those who might have special needs to make sure those needs are met,” Rupert said.

The borough received assistance from Westmoreland Department of Public Safety, various fire departments in surrounding communities and the Red Cross, Rupert said.

Murrysville Medic One Dive Team released a statement saying firefighters from Avonmore, Saltsburg, Bell, Tunnelton, Apollo, Islin, Slickville, Washington Township and Coal Run were in Avonmore assisting with a structure fire and many flooded homes.

Medic One along with Saltsburg and Tunnelton volunteer fire departments were dispatched to the borough to assist with the evacuation of residents and perform welfare checks on others.

“We’re clear up here in the middle of nowhere but within a few minutes, we had more help than we ever could have dreamed of,” Rupert said. “We needed it. …We can’t thank them all enough.”

She said there were no deaths or injuries during the flooding aside from a few cuts and scrapes.

NWS warned people to expect more showers Sunday.

“Scattered showers and thunderstorms this morning are expected to become more numerous this afternoon and early evening. There is a Marginal Risk (level 1 out of 5) for severe storms across western PA and northern WV. Locally heavy rainfall could also result in localized flash flooding,” a social media post read.

As of 9 a.m. Sunday, First Energy’s outage map state about 72 customers are out power in Washington County, 138 customers were out of power in Westmoreland, 30 in Beaver, 46 in Armstrong and less than 20 were without power in Allegheny County. Duquesne Light’s outage map noted 19 customers without power between Butler and Allegheny counties.