Storms, flooding hit hard in central Westmoreland County

Heavy rains flooded roads in Pittsburgh’s East End, the North Hills area and sections of central Westmoreland County as the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning Friday night for areas of Pittsburgh, the North Hills, central Westmoreland County and Butler County.

Westmoreland County 911 was receiving numerous calls from areas in the Greensburg, Hempfield and Unity area for several roads and basements that were flooded early Friday night.

Route 130 in the area of the Unity Township Municipal Authority plant and Naser’s Market in Pleasant Unity closed because of flooding. Westmoreland County 911 said it had received calls of people being trapped in buildings by the rising water.

Firefighters in Unity also shut down White School Road at Route 30 because of numerous flooded areas along the roadway, which connects Route 30 at Mountain View with Route 130.

The heavy rains caused the flooding of a small stream in front of Vivian Ludwick’s house on Bailey Farm Road, on the border of Unity and Hempfield.

Ludwick was trapped inside her house about 7 p.m. by the raging waters that slammed big logs against a small metal bridge that spanned the stream.

“The rain started coming down hard around 7 p.m. I moved my car from the driveway” and “in five to 10 minutes, it was a raging river,” Ludwick said of the stream that is normally about 5 feet wide.

A swift water rescue team the North Huntingdon EMS crossed the hard-rushing stream, reached her and put her and her dog in the raft and got her across the stream about 9:15 p.m.

While she waited inside her house to be rescued, Ludwick said the water inside the house rose to her knees.

Ludwick said she had been flooded before when it rained hard, “but this was the worst.”

Firefighters also were sent to Marguerite Lake Road, where a car was stranded in the water, and to numerous other locations.

One of them was the village of Dorothy, just outside of Saint Vincent College.

In the late afternoon, Washington Boulevard in Pittsburgh closed because of flooding, with the floodgates dropped at Washington Boulevard and Allegheny River Boulevard, county police said.

Allegheny River Boulevard at the intersection of Nadine Road in Penn Hills also was closed for a time.

In Munhall, a swiftwater rescue was reported about 7 p.m. at Greenspring Avenue.

The flash flood warning for Pittsburgh and northeastern Allegheny County expired at 7 p.m. after heavy rain hit sections of Pittsburgh, Sharpsburg, Aspinwall, Ross, and O’Hara, the weather service said.

The storm caused a tree to fall onto the northbound lanes of Route 28 between the Fox Chapel exit and the Highland Park Bridge, forcing drivers to use Freeport Road as an alternate route. The tree was removed and traffic was flowing freely later Friday night.

MAJOR TRAFFIC ALERT: downed tree on Route 28 northbound between Highland Park Bridge and Fox Chapel. All lanes closed. Traffic will have to exit and use Freeport Road as an alternate route. #WPXITraffic #WPXI #PittsburghTraffic pic.twitter.com/mx5aUw5zCo

— WPXI Traffic (@WPXITraffic) August 5, 2022