Three people died in a flash flood on Friday after heavy rains submerged cars in Pittsburgh and authorities said they were searching for other possible victims.
Numerous vehicles were submerged in the area around Washington Boulevard, which runs parallel to the Allegheny River in the city's Highland Park neighborhood, after thunderstorms dropped up to 3 inches of rain in an hour, the National Weather Service reported.
Rescue crews used inflatable boats to reach other stranded drivers, some of whom say that the waters near the city zoo were 6 feet deep.
KDKA-TV reported that the three victims were found in the same minivan. Emergency officials said a fourth person was missing, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Some drivers had to swim to safety from their cars. Rhodearland "Bob" Bailey, 79, of Penn Hills, was rescued from the roof of his car.
"I can swim a little bit and was looking at a tree branch," Bailey told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "I heard one woman yelling for help, but the water was coming down so fast, I couldn't see. ... I've never seen nothing like this in my life. Lord have mercy."
Tara Howes, 34, of Gibsonia, told the newspaper that "manhole covers started popping up and it looked like the road exploded and the waters came up really fast. I saw people swimming on the sides of the road. It was pretty scary."
The flash floods hit an area that experienced serious flooding last month. Claudia Gallagher, 55, of West Mifflin, was driving north on Washington Boulevard at the height of rainfall and tried to get off the road as the water rose.
"We tried to drive up onto the curb, but the water had other ideas," she told the Post-Gazette.
Her car began to float, and she opened her window and climbed onto the roof, getting her foot caught in the process. Many other drivers nearby were sitting atop their cars, too, she said.
The floodwaters had receded by early evening, leaving behind stranded cars and roads caked in mud.
Earlier Friday, another storm caused power outages that left most of the University of Pittsburgh without electricity.
Flights at Pittsburgh International Airport were grounded because of lightning just after 3 p.m., said spokeswoman JoAnn Jenny.
Two hospitals operated on emergency power after rains flooded a substation in the city's Oakland neighborhood.
Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=139807491&ft=1&f=
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