Flooding in Pittsburgh sees 1 person rescued, roads closed

Several days of rain and the potential for flooding along the riverfront in Downtown Pittsburgh has led officials to close roads around the city early Monday morning.

The 10th Street Bypass was closed between Interstate 279 Parkway North/Fort Duquesne Bridge and Fort Duquesne Boulevard, according to TribLive news partner WTAE.

PennDOT said the ramps from northbound and southbound I-279 to the 10th Street Bypass will also be closed.

One person had to be rescued from the flooding in the Mon Wharf area overnight, officials said.

First responders received reports of multiple people trapped at a homeless tent encampment just before 9:30 p.m. Sunday, and found one man, who was rescued by ladder.

The man was directed to a nearby shelter for services, officials said. He was not injured.

River Rescue divers waded through the floodwaters to check the other tents at the encampment, but did not find anyone there. The team also checked around Point State Park for anyone else, and found two people, who did not need to be rescued. They were also directed to an area shelter until the flood water recedes.

Weather report

Meteorologist Jason Frazier with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh said he expects the river levels to slowly fall throughout the rest of this week.

The Ohio River was at 22.5 feet as of 7 a.m., he said, which is just over what’s considered the “near flood” stage (at 18 feet). The river level is expected to rise to 23 feet later today before falling, returning back below 18 feet around Thursday.

“We do see some flooding for those localized parking areas, but it’s still very localized,” he said.

He said this month is the ninth wettest January on record so far, with 5.26 inches of precipitation — from rain and snow. For the rest of the week, though, what little precipitation that may occur isn’t likely to worsen the flooding, he said.

“We do expect to see more rain or chances throughout the week, maybe a little bit of snow here or there, but the amounts that are coming are pretty low, low enough that they are not really going to cause additional rises or stalling of the falling nature of the rivers,” Frazier said.