A frantic search is underway for four people missing – including a nine-month-old baby – after heavy rains swept through Pennsylvania in flash floods on Saturday.
Four people are dead and four are still missing, Bucks County confirmed at a news conference Sunday morning.
Officials said of the four missing people, ‘We are treating it as a rescue, but pretty sure it’s a recovery mission.’ Search and rescue personnel are working day and night to find them.
About 11 vehicles were on the road along the river near the Washington Crossing at General Washington Memorial Boulevard when they were caught in the sudden downpour and three of them were swept away.
Officials said the storms dropped up to four inches of rain in an hour, adding they had ‘never seen anything like it.’
Wild storms continued into New Jersey on Sunday where multiple homes were evacuated after lightning struck an underground gas line and set it on fire.
A flood watch has been issued for more than 57 million residents along Interstate 95 from northern Virginia to Maine.
Lightning struck a tree and underground pipe on Madison Avenue in the Lakewood area of New Jersey, sparking the fire, officials said. This incident happened around 6 am on Sunday.
Photos show firefighters on the scene waiting for the gas company to put out the fire and evacuate residents, Lakewood Scoop reports.
Wild weekend storms pummeled parts of the Northeast with severe flash flooding in southeastern Pennsylvania just outside Philadelphia Saturday night, leaving at least three dead and a dozen others missing.
A flood watch has been issued for more than 57 million residents along Interstate 95 from northern Virginia to Maine.
According to the National Weather Service, a tornado watch has been issued for Boston and surrounding counties until 3 p.m. Massachusetts counties include Berkshire, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Worcester.
The heaviest rain is expected to clear by Monday, but there will be a few scattered showers across the region, according to Fox Weather.
About 1-2 inches of rain is expected north of the Delmarva Peninsula, with 2-3 inches in some areas throughout the week. In New England, thunderstorms may drop isolated amounts of 3-5 inches of rain.
Heavy rain is likely and some streams and rivers are already at high levels and forecasters say the threat of flash flooding across the region is considered ‘very likely’.
“The Green Mountains, the White Mountains, the Berkshires — if you live in the valley, you really need to pay attention to this forecast because it looks, unfortunately, really awful,” said Fox Weather meteorologist Jane Miner.
In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, flooding was so bad it inundated cars with people already inside them, which county officials said led to their deaths and another family missing. At least one bridge was seen in visible disrepair.
Around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, the center of the storm recorded 4 inches of rain per hour, officials said. Dean Iovino of the National Weather Service said Las Vegas received more rain in two hours than it has in a year.
Two women and a man were found dead in the Washington Crossing area of Upper Makefield Township. The identity of the fourth person killed has not been released.
Officials in Upper Makefield said the remaining missing include a family of four, including a two-year-old and a nine-month-old.
At least four people are dead and a dozen others are missing after flash flooding and several inches of rain left southeastern Pennsylvania just outside Philadelphia on Saturday.
Bucks County Coroner Meredith Buck said the number is likely to be higher.
“The death toll could rise,” he told the Philadelphia Inquirer. ‘This is just the beginning, sadly.’
“A lot of water rescue work is going on right now. There’s a lot going on,’ he added, adding that Iovino said there could be as many as a dozen missing.
He noted that the county’s proximity to the Delaware River made it ‘a problem area’ for flooding and that the flash floods were narrowly focused on it.
At the peak of the storm, neighboring police departments announced they were assisting with search and rescue operations for those lost in the flood.
Police in Upper Makefield said in a Facebook post that much of the town was affected by flooding.
‘We apologize for not keeping you updated,’ they wrote. “We are conducting a search and rescue operation. Many places in the township have been flooded.’
‘When we can, we will update you. Until then keep the family in your thoughts and prayers.’
About four inches of rain fell in Bucks County at the center of the storm at about 5:30 p.m., officials said. Dean Iovino of the National Weather Service said more rain fell in two hours than the city of Las Vegas has in a year.
The flooding was so bad that cars flooded with people inside them, which officials said left them dead and another family missing. At least one bridge was seen in visible disrepair
Two women and a man were found dead in the Washington Crossing area of Upper Makefield Township. The identity of the fourth person killed has not been released
Officials in Upper Makefield said the remaining missing include a family of four, including a two-year-old and a nine-month-old.
At the peak of the storm, neighboring police departments announced they were assisting in search and rescue operations for those lost in the flood.
Four state highways in Bucks County are closed due to flooding, according to the state Department of Transportation.
A local resident, Nick Primola, told abc6 he saw cars drifting off the side of the road.
‘I guess it was just lucky timing because maybe those who were there 10 minutes ago weren’t as lucky. They really had no warning and got caught up in it,’ he said.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it so quickly. I mean it’s an area with a lot of waterways, so people are used to flooding, but I think that’s why it hit these people who were driving,’ Primola added.
Officials told Fox29 that roads could remain closed for an extended period of time.
Four state highways in Bucks County are closed due to flooding, according to the state Department of Transportation
Officials told reporters that roads are likely to remain closed for a long time
Police in Upper Makefield said in a Facebook post that much of the town was flooded
One expert noted that the county’s proximity to the Delaware River made it ‘a problem area’ for flooding, and that flash flooding was narrowly focused on it.
Motorists are being told to avoid the closed area until the roads are cleared and repaired.
The National Weather Service is warning that conditions could worsen, with the entire region under a 24-hour flood watch from Sunday through Monday.
“With all that moisture, there’s nothing to clean it,” Iovino said.
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