PITTSBURGH — Heavy rain caused flooding, road closures and power outages across western Pennsylvania.
Severe Weather Team 11 got a look at the impact in different areas.
Flooding causes restaurant to shut down for hours
Flooding forced a local restaurant to close for several hours.
Water rushed into the basement of Sunny Jim’s along Camp Horne Road.
“It was a good 2.5 feet down there,” said Sunny Jim’s Owner Greg Oliver.
Greg Oliver says they were just getting ready to open when he noticed how hard the water was running outside his restaurant.
“That’s what caught my attention first,” said Oliver. “The water was coming down so hard. It was splashing off the sides of cars. I swear to God it almost pushed a car off the side of the road.”
This year, Sunny Jim’s is celebrating 90 years in business. It’s built over a creek that flows into Lowries Run, which cuts through Avonworth Community Park.
“I looked before, and the creek was running fast like it always does when it rains like that but then all of a sudden,” said Oliver. “I walked out like I showed you in that video. It was a river coming through our back parking lot and into the building.”
Earlier Tuesday afternoon, Ohio Township Police closed Camp Horne near the Pittsburgh Veterinary Specialty & Emergency Center. At one point, the water was above a man’s knees.
“I’ve never seen it this bad,” said Oliver. “We had to mop the entire restaurant. Hosed all the guck and muck out. Just over and over again. We’re finally done now.”
Local creeks swell, river levels rise as heavy rain pours
“It’s just like a horror story. It really is. It’s scary,” said Jack Ceney.
Ceney, the owner of Ceney Electronics in Millvale said when it rains like it did over night and this morning, he doesn’t get much rest.
“We’ve been doing this our whole lives. I’ve been here since 1971. Every time something like this happens we just sit here and watch,” Ceney said. “It’s all you can do.
He was out early Tuesday morning checking on Girty’s Run Creek.
“You are helpless in your own way,” he said. “It’s in the hands of god on that, let me tell you.”
People across several neighborhoods were dealing with flooding – or a flood risk. Pine Creek in Etna crossed the 13-foot threshold triggering the borough’s flood plan.
All Saints Church had water in the basement.
Upstream from Etna, the Pine Creek spilled over it’s banks, flooding the neighborhood around Fall Run Park.
“If it get’s this high? We’re all swimming,” said Joe Navilliat.
Navilliat has lived next to the creek for 59 years.
“Everytime that it rains, if it rains more than two inches, I know I’ve got to have a pump running or on standby,” he told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek.
There’s no water in his house right now, but he says he’s dealt with flooding a lot in the last 20 years. He’s sealed his garage door off, and has sandbags near the back door in hopes of stopping the water from getting in.
He’s worried about what might happen later this evening. But, he said he’s ready.
“Its a part of life, it’s a part of nature. It happens,” Navilliat said. “But, to sit there and think that it won’t happen again? That’d be foolish.”
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