Pa., NJ and parts of Ohio prep for possible flooding due to heavy rain, melting snowpack

Pa., NJ, Ohio residents prep for possible flooding

SUTERSVILLE, Pa. — Just weeks after dealing with record-setting snowfall, residents in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey are preparing for the possibility of flooding.

A large portion of Pennsylvania and all of New Jersey is under a flood watch. Parts of Ohio, along the Ohio River, is under a watch, too, with the threat of heavy rain combining with melting snowpack.

A forecast of warm weather and several days of rain will cause deep snow in the mountains to melt, according to the National Weather Service.

Flooding in Pittsburgh could begin Friday night, and the Ohio River in the city is expected to crest about two feet above flood stage on Sunday afternoon, according to the NWS.

Emergency management officials in the Pittsburgh region had warned of the possibility of major flooding as record-breaking amounts of snow began to thaw. February was the snowiest month in Pittsburgh-area history. River towns south and east of the city are especially vulnerable to snowmelt coming downstream from the mountains.

Officials say there is more snow in those mountains than there was in 1996, the region’s last major snow-related floods.

In western Pennsylvania, Richard Westerman will be prepared if the Youghiogheny River spills over its banks. He says he’ll draw on his experience from 1996, when the basement of his century-old home flooded with five feet of water, destroying his washer and dryer.

The 65-year-old Westerman and his 42-year-old son, Tom, spent part of Thursday removing items from his home in Sutersville, about 20 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. His home sits about 50 yards from the river.

“I’m not a hydrologist, but I see it coming,” said Westerman, a retired driver’s license examiner. “If the rain comes … you got to be ready for whatever. “

Allegheny County Emergency Services Chief Bob Full said last week that “the rivers are going to flood. It’s just a question of where.”

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravensthal declared a state of emergency on Wednesday. The declaration will help the city more easily control resources, if needed.

The Army Corps of Engineer’s Pittsburgh district said it has 107,000 sandbags and 650 linear feet of temporary flood wall available.

The Corps has also drawn down its 16 reservoirs in the Ohio River Basin in preparation. The reservoirs can capture about a third of snowmelt and stormwater runoff and release it after the flood threat passes.

Terry McBride, 63, lives about 15 yards from the Youghiogheny River, but he’s not moving anything from his basement.

“Everyone’s in a panic because there’s snow in the mountains, but it’s not in the basin,” he said.

Sutersville Mayor John Lyons called the people who live along the river flood veterans.

“We are fairly well prepared … but there’s no certainty that it’s going to happen,” Lyons said. “But if it does, there’s not much you can do about it.”