Pittsburgh DUers -- Y'okay?

[chookie]

Historic rainfall in Pittsburgh today. 4.5 inches in 24 hour period.

A few of you that I know are living in "Mandatory Evacuation" areas -- so please check in and let us know that you are okay/not okay.

Luckily I live on very high ground, because the surrounding area out this way (between Allegheny River and north hills) is flooded.

XOXO

[Bunny]

1. Hi Chookie! My town has some flooded streets, some areas

are closed to traffic. The roof leaks, so my kitchen ceiling caved in, there's an inch of water in my basement, but I'm in no immediate danger. I hope the rest of you all are okay!

[anti_shrub]

2. Penn Hills is pretty fine

I work near the river in Oakmont and there was some flooding there, but my neighborhood's okay. I just have some seepage in my basement because the gutters on the back of my house are always stuffed full due to the giant maple tree I have.

[chookie]

7. Areas around Oakmont are closed

Allegheny River Blvd is closed in spots, most notably between Oakmont and Verona.

And the rivers won't crest for another 24-36 hours....

Major landslide on 28th southbound, between Harmar and RIDC Park.

Etna is flooded -- the Blarney Stone is under water.

Rte 8 between Etna and **DUNCAN ROAD** is closed -- yikes!

[chookie]

6. Oh honey!!!

Glad you're safe - but having a leaky roof and a caved in kitchen ceiling SUCKS!

[Bunny]

11. Yeah it sucks, but others have it so much worse.

The news has been frightful, hasn't it? Pittsburgh is a mess! Everyone, stay safe!

[bleedingheart]

21. Holy Cow! your celing caved in...and here I was

bummed about a wet basement and all the work we are doing to throw stuff outside for the trash on Wednesday and getting other stuff out of the line of the water...our problem isn't that bad...

[Bunny]

25. Well, I was up and at 'em early this morning, cleaning up.

Mopped and disinfected the basement, tore down the part of the ceiling that hadn't fallen down, scrubbed everything, etc. One good thing is that I am now a renter, so I had the luxury of calling the landlord to get the problem fixed - this is one time when I have no regrets about not being a homeowner!

However, this IS one of those times when I really wish I had a man around the house, I could have used some help getting all of this done! ;)

[doc03]

3. I am 8 miles from Wheeling and have had 7 3/4" inches rain in the the

last 10 hours. Every creek is out of it's banks, you literally can't
get anyplace, almost all roads are closed from water or mud slides.
I'm watching KDKA 2 showing floods in Etna right now. So far they are
saying the Ohio will crest in Wheeling at 37.5', flood stage is 36'
there. I think it will by much worse than that.

[cmd]

5. I just saw this on the weather underground

09/17/2004 0320 PM
3 miles N of Wheeling, Ohio County.
Flood, reported by Skywarn spotter.
            Trailer court washed away from flood. Helicopters
            performing Rescue.

Have you heard anything about it. Stay safe over there. The rain has just left our area, but the water will be rising for at least another day.

[chookie]

8. Update: 7.5 inches in Pittsburgh -- WAY big record set

The worst is yet to come regarding the many local major rivers. They won't crest for another 24-36 hours.

There was also a report of dams in risk of failing just south of the border in WV

[spinbaby]

10. How's Wheeling Creek?

Elm Grove could be in big trouble.

[RamboLiberal]

4. Hi Chookie - I live on the high ground so I'm ok

But I've never seen rain like this. Spent over 3 hours in the car getting home. Roads I've never seen flooded were. I really feel for those who are flooded. Had a slight roof leak with Frances - surprised so far it's not leaking today.

But I sure feel lucky with what I see on TV from Florida, Alabama, on up to here.

This is going to be a helluva hit on the Federal Budget - how the hell is Bushie going to pay for all this along with his Iraq war???????

Hey since we're all sitting inside on a rainy night - a plug for feedback on why you're voting for Kerry is needed.

Next month Pittsburgh Pointe magazine will feature the upcoming election as their cover feature.

They are encouraging readers to visit their web site and fill out a form that will tell them who they are voting for and why. They will be publishing equal amounts of view points from Democrats and Republicans, but so far they are mostly hearing from the right side of things.

This is a great opportunity to get our opinions and our concerns published!

Here's a link to the page for submitting information

http://www.pittsburghpointe.com/election_pointes.html

[spinbaby]

9. Wet basement

Got someone stranded at my house because the road is flooded down the hill. We measured 7 inches here in Little Washington with Frances two weeks ago, 5 inches so far with Ivan.

[4MoreYearsOfHell]

12. OK in Monroeville

at least where I live, on a hill...

Saw that half of Rt. 48 was overflowing earlier, though, and some places have their power off...

I hope that one of those places is not the Gateway Grill...

[Junkdrawer]

13. Drove though a stretch of 18" water - Waves breaking over the hood...

After I was through, I realized how stupid that was. My only excuse was that I was following a long line of cars that did the same thing.

I'm still wondering why my engine didn't stall out. :shrug:

BTW: The water was ponded and not moving.

[chookie]

14. So glad you're okay

YIKES! There have been a lot of problems caused by cars stalling out in this fashion.

What region did this happen in?

I'm about 6 miles up Saxonburg Blvd from Rte 8 -- it's a nightmare in Shaler Township, near the K Mart. The whole area is flooded out down there, just like back in 1986, although today might be worse.

[Junkdrawer]

15. Washington Blvd. near the Highland Park bridge....

I was stuck in traffic for an hour and, well, nature was calling. :P

[chookie]

16. I heard there's a landslide there now

I know it well. It gets hairy there.

Thanks for pointing out that driving around with a full bladder today in Pittsburgh is a bad idea.

[doc03]

17. National weather service just revised their crest for Wheeling WV

to 43.2', that would be 7.2' above flood stage. Elm Grove and the National Road area are under water from Big Wheeling Creek. All the small creek bottom villages were flooded here this afternoon.
Wegee creek in Ohio where 26 people died around 1994 is flooded really bad again there are no reports of any loss of life as now.


http://www.erh.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ahps.cgi?pbz&wlgw2&hydrograph

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ahps.cgi?pbz&wlgw2&hydrograph#Historical

[spinbaby]

18. Damn

A lot of people live on that bit of flat in Elm Grove. My mother in-law just bought a house there.

[doc03]

19. The TV showed the main drag on National Road littered with

stalled cars in water 2-3' deep. The water was about 1 foot deep in front of the Shriners building. I would assume everything in the Riesbecks shopping plaza would be flooded also. I tried to get to work in Steubenville but Ohio Route 7 was closed at Yorkville the OSP officer said there were 5 mud slides between there and Steubenville. I have made it to Steubenville for 35 years through floods and snow storms, not today. This is the most wide spread damage I have ever seen.

[bleedingheart]

20. We are trying to keep our basement dry.. our sump pump works

but it isn't able to pump the water out...not sure why...we expect it is because where it emptying it is saturated...

We have suctioned so much water out of the basement at least 100 gallons so far...I know we are far more fortunate than some folks whose homes are going to be just destroyed....so I am counting my blessings...

On top of it the commute home was 3 hours and I almost didn't make it because some sections were getting closed off as I was driving home and that was at 2pm...(I left early...)

[chemenger]

22. Took me 3 hours to get home this evening

I work in the RIDC Park above Blawnox and live in Moon Township. Commute usually takes about an hour. Traffic on Route 28 was heavy and slow. Water pouring down from the cliffs. Etna and Millvale flooded. Route 19 traffic stalled due to the flooding. Trip home was a bitch ... if it wasn't flooded roads it was landslides. It's 10:40 PM now and the rain hasn't let up since I woke up this morning at 5:00 AM.

[bleedingheart]

23. the commute home was wild...

I was on Route 65 headed east from Sewickley when they shut down the west route because the side of the hill had turned into Niagara Falls. I rarely rubberneck but when I was on 65 I almost came to a stop as I saw the cascading water just falling down that hillside. I then made it to the 65/Camp Horne intersection to find that Camp Horne had been closed...no wonder with that creek running beside it.

Then I was stuck in some traffic just past the intersection when a flood of about 6 inches of water just started streaming into the road...I thought I was dreaming... I drove through it and then motored towards the Ft Duq bridge..but there was so much water puddling along the side of the road that it took a while. From Sewickley to the Ft. Duquesne bridge it took 1 hour....then I got caught in that mess to the Squirrel Hill tunnel...1 hour to get there...then another hour to get to my son's daycare....I was a bit frazzled by the time I got home...

What struck me as unbelievable was watching the news and the absolute morons who motored into two feet of water..

[JM]

24. We are very lucky and in Greenfield

We are fortunate we are on the upper section of Greenfield, right by Squirrel Hill. We had some slight leakage in the basement which always happens with heavy rainfall, but that was about it. Thankfully we had the chimney flashing repaired two months ago, so the kids' room was spared.

I feel sorry for those who really got hit. A friend of ours had to stay over for about three hours last night because he and his kids had no way to get back to I-79. One of my wife's co-workers lives right down the street from The Blarney Stone in Etna. Anyone who saw the fottage knows that area is now under at least 10' of water.

Stay safe all, and best of luck!

JM