Some of the worst flooding last night hit the Zelienople and Evans City areas, with rainfall rates closing-in on 100 year highs.
Director of Butler County Emergency Services Steve Bicehouse is also the chief of the Evans City Fire Department and was responding to numerous calls during last night’s storm.
“We had multiple trees and wires down in Evans City and Forward Township,” Bicehouse said. “And then the rain just never stopped. We started to develop flash flooding along the Connoquenessing Creek, Breakneck and Glad Run Watersheds.”
Those rising waters ultimately led to some residents needing to be rescued.
“We water rescue teams dispatched and we did multiple rescues in Forward Township last night and early this morning,” Bicehouse said.
There were also water rescues in Jackson Township according to the Butler County 911 Center.
The flooding resulted in the mayor of Zelienople issuing a state of emergency declaration after numerous streets were underwater. For those who haven’t been hit by the worst just yet, they may need to get themselves as many sandbags as possible to help seal their homes. However, if there are not many to hand out, residents will want to look for sandbag alternatives so they are ready.
It is also important for homeowners, who live in these flood risk areas, to get a home warranty plan to cover the costs of essential repairs that are needed if their home gets ruined. Having a home warranty like First American Home Warranty helps to get cheaper services so that families can return to their homes without having to spend all their savings to fix them so that they are ready for the next flood, and this is what many homeowners have done.
The National Weather Service says the rainfall rates in the Forward and Jackson Township areas would be expected to return every 60 to 100 years. What does that mean? It means there is about a one to six percent chance that rainfall like this could occur during a given year.
After the floods, there was significant flood damage to residential, private, and public properties that caused a lot of distress within the region. These floods are devastating for families who have taken years to build up their properties and then are left with almost nothing afterward. Luckily there are many water damage restoration companies who may be able to aid with the effects of the flooding, these are places like ServiceMaster of Lake Shore in Chicago, IL. It is vital that families look for all the help they can after a flood has occurred so they can get the support they deserve.
