Newborns, high school grads, elderly rescued from floods by Westmoreland County swift-water teams

The emergency response to flooding in the Murrysville area Friday night threw everything and the kitchen sink to swift-water rescue teams.

The 95 evacuations in the roughly 300-yard space between Ginny’s Neighborhood Pizza Joint and Penn Vista Apartment complex included: a weeks-old baby, half a dozen Franklin Regional High School graduates headed to commencement, a pregnant woman and a 99-year-old, said Darrick Gerano, director of Murrysville Medic One.

“It was basically: put people in the boats, and work the boats back to dry land,” Gerano said. “It was an interesting evening, but thank God Westmoreland County has the water rescue resources we do. We were able to bring a lot of people to safety very quickly.

And, Gerano said, no injuries were reported.

There was damage to homes, businesses, vehicles and the Westmoreland Heritage Trail.

Residents are being urged to call 211 to report damage. Gerano didn’t recall anyone being displaced due to the flooding.

Reports indicated anywhere between 4 to 6 inches of rain in the Murrysville area from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday. Turtle Creek flooded for the first time since 2009, closing nearby roads.

“It’s not every day you can float on down Old William Penn Highway in a boat,” Gerano said.

Murrysville Medic One first pulled two elderly women out of their submerged car on Pleasant Valley Road in Murrysville, and things spilled down from there, Gerano said.

In turn, the Westmoreland County Swiftwater Rescue Response Plan was activated.

That brought 13 swift-water rescue or dive teams to respond, including Medic One, Lower Kiski Water Team, Armstrong County, Collinsburg, Fort Allen, Greensburg, Monroeville, North Huntingdon, Penn Township, Scottdale, Suttersville and Westmoreland County Team 175.

“This storm hit us and there was no way (of knowing) before it started up,” Gerano said. “Their ability to deploy so quickly and jump into the situation, and the fact we have a working relationship with all the water rescue teams within the county, is nothing short of amazing.”

Westmoreland County’s director of public safety, Roland “Bud” Mertz, agreed.

“The response by first responders was spectacular,” Mertz said. “You had police, fire and EMS working hand-in-hand to make sure the citizens were safe and secure. Everybody worked together very well.”

As part of the response team, Lower Kiski was first called as standby at the Delmont Fire Station and later responded to Helltown Brewing to help evacuate people, said Dan Felack Sr, Lower Kiski marine commander.

Felack attributed the injury-free response to the region’s water rescue teams going through the same training and protocols. Additionally, they interchange personnel, which helps responders familiarize themselves with their peers and know each other’s capabilities.

“It’s all dancing to the same drummer,” he said.

Felack said the response was textbook.

“It’s a good plan by Westmoreland County,” he said. “(Friday) night was evidence the teams were able to function and get the job done appropriately.”

Among those departments, five boats were activated to rescue people, Gerano said.

Some Franklin Regional seniors headed to graduation were already dressed in their caps and gowns: they’d get on the boat and took a 20-yard piggy-back ride from first responders to stay dry, Gerano said.

Floodwaters were about 5 to 6 feet deep and receded “quickly,” said Capt. George McFarland of the Greensburg Dive Team.

For the most part, the water could be forded, McFarland said, but there was a lot of sewage and oil in it.

Gerano noted other hazards, including firewood, trash, garbage cans, logs and even a dumpster in the water.

Evacuations took about 2½ hours, but McFarland noted some of that time included interactions with residents who, at first, declined to be evacuated but changed their mind.

Crews were also able to go back and retrieve a man’s pets, Gerano said. Everyone at the scene — from swift-water rescue crews, to police officers, local officials and residents — were in good spirits despite the situation, Gerano said.

“The cooperation was fantastic,” McFarland said. “Everybody knew what they were doing, they knew the job they had to do, and it got done.”