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From staff reports
LEWISTOWN -- Despite heavy rainfall over the past several days, the Juniata River at Lewistown crested just below flood stage. Data received from the Mifflin County Office of Public Safety shows the river had crested at about 4 p.m. Wednesday through the effort of Raystown Dam to maintain that level just below the flood stage of 23 feet. It was predicted to crest at 26 feet just hours prior to cresting.
Major roads in the area are open. Updates from PennDOT on Wednesday indicated closures on Route 103 in Wayne Township between the intersection of Bridge Street and Sugar Ridge Road in Mifflin County and Route 2006 (Summit Road) in Decatur Township between the intersection of Route 522 and the Snyder County line. In Juniata County, Route 3005 (Cedar Spring/Chicken Plant Road) in Walker Township between the intersections of Main Street and Route 75 was closed.
Motorists are encouraged to "Know Before They Go" by checking conditions on area roadways by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras.
Exact rainfall totals vary depending on location, but estimates for Mifflin County over the past few days range from three to four inches. Showers will linger for the next few days according to AccuWeather.com.
Though the worst of the weather seems to have moved out of the area, high water will remain for a few days.
Most small streams in the area have returned within their banks. Jack's Creek and Kish Creek will remain high in the Derry Township and Lewistown Borough areas until the Juniata River recedes further, according to the Office of Public Safety.
Smaller tributaries and the Juniata River will remain artificially high as Raystown Dam begins to empty the water stored as part of the Flood Control project. The dam retained nearly 25,000 cubic feet per second of flood waters over the course of two days to minimize the flood waters affecting the Mifflin County area. This resulted in approximately 20% use of the flood control storage capacity of the dam.
The Raystown - Army Corps of Engineers will most likely start releasing water from the dam as upstream areas see their crests pass. This will most likely take several days lasting into next week
to complete.