Trending
HARRISBURG (AP) -- Soaking rains from the remnants of Hurricane Ida prompted the evacuations of thousands of people Wednesday after water reached dangerous levels at a dam near Johnstown.
The storm soaked much of western and central Pennsylvania after high water drove some from their homes in Maryland and Virginia. The storm killed a teenager, two people were not accounted for and a tornado was believed to have touched down along the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.
Ida caused countless school and business closures in Pennsylvania. About 150 roadways maintained by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation were closed and many smaller roadways also were impassable. Some 18,000 customers were without power, including some 12,000 in central Pennsylvania.
Some areas near Johnstown, whose history includes several deadly floods, saw 5 inches or more of rain by midafternoon, an inundation that triggered an evacuation order for those downstream from the Wilmore dam.
Cambria County emergency management director and 911 center head Art Martynuska said the water level at the Wilmore dam reached a height that required evacuation.
Wilmore dam "has reached the stage where the emergency action plan has called for us to mandate an evacuation in the inundation areas downstream from the dam," Martynuska said.
Wilmore Dam, owned by the Cambria Somerset Authority and built in 1908, was rated poor in a September 2020 inspection with the condition detail "deficiency recognized." Hinckson Run dam, built in 1905, was also rated poor in 2020.
Hinckston Run Dam was also being monitored but appeared stable by late afternoon, he said, by which time water levels at Wilmore dam were receding.
"If that trend continues we'll be allowing folks to return back to their residences shortly, hopefully by this evening," Martynuska said.
Both dams were considered high-hazard dams that are likely to kill someone were they to fail.
Evacuees were taken to a nearby high school with help from the Red Cross, National Guard, local transit authority and school transportation services, he said.
"The dam is performing as intended -- water is flowing into the emergency spillway, which helps to prevent further degradation of the structure. However, the emergency plan for the Wilmore Dam calls for downstream evacuations when water flows into the spillway," Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Ruth Miller said.
The 1889 Johnstown flood killed 2,200 people, a disaster blamed on poor maintenance on the South Fork Dam on the Little Conemaugh River. It sent a 36-foot wall of water roaring into a populated area at 40 mph.
Across Pennsylvania, residents were being drenched by downpours and bracing for high winds as the remnants of Hurricane Ida plowed through the state, inundating creeks, streams and rivers.
"Please, if you can stay home today, please stay home," Gov. Tom Wolf said at a news conference from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Harrisburg. He warned that urban, river and flash flooding were expected through Thursday.
"The best thing all of us can do right now is to stay home and stay safe," Wolf said.
The National Weather Service warned the highest risk of flooding extended hundreds of miles along the border with Maryland and northward into the mountainous area south of State College. The Susquehanna River was projected to crest sometime Thursday, and a minor tornado threat was posted.
Boats were needed to rescue students after a school bus became stuck in high water in the Pittsburgh area.
Randy Padfield, the state's emergency agency director, said the rain falling on already wet soil along with high winds and trees top-heavy with leaves increased the chances that power may go out.
Innumerable schools, businesses and other institutions shut down or had plans to close early in the greater Harrisburg region, where more than 5 inches of rain was expected before high winds were to arrive later in the day.
Wolf late Tuesday issued a disaster emergency that put teams in place to respond to the storm and its aftermath.
Some 120 National Guard troops were activated to help operate about three dozen high-clearance, high-water vehicles that can perform evacuations. Guard members were also put on duty as part of the state's helicopter aquatic rescue team.
Around-the-clock operation of the state's Commonwealth Response Coordination Center began Wednesday morning.
The National Weather Service had predicted flooding from what remained of Hurricane Ida, saying steep terrain and even city streets were particularly vulnerable to a band of severe weather that extended from the Appalachians into Massachusetts.
Flash flooding knocked about 20 homes off their foundations and washed several trailers away in Virginia's mountainous western corner, where about 50 people were rescued and hundreds were evacuated. News outlets reported that one person was unaccounted for in the small mountain community of Hurley.
Water had almost reached the ceilings of basement units when crews arrived at an apartment complex in Rockville, Maryland, on Wednesday. A 19-year-old was found dead, another person was missing and about 200 people from 60 apartments near Rock Creek were displaced, Montgomery County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein said Wednesday.
"In many years I have not seen circumstances like this," Goldstein said.
Tropical Storm Larry was strengthening and moving quickly westward after forming off the coast of Africa earlier Wednesday. Forecasters predicted it would rapidly intensify in a manner similar to Ida, becoming a major hurricane with top wind speeds of 120 mph by Saturday. Kate remained a tropical depression and was expected to weaken without threatening land.