Police identify victims of deadly Pennsylvania flooding
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At least six people have died and two children remain missing after slow-moving thunderstorms took aim at the East Coast and unleashed an epic deluge of water across several communities over the weekend. Deadly flash floods swept away dozens of vehicles and hundreds of flights were canceled.
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Saturday night's deadly flash flooding brought torrential rains to parts of Bucks County outside Philadelphia. (Upper Makefield Police Department) |
Some of the worst flooding occurred on a localized basis in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, specifically in Upper Makefield Township, located north of Philadelphia and near the New Jersey border. Officials there said torrential floodwaters Saturday evening in the Washington Crossing area swept away several vehicles. At least five people died and two children were still missing as of Monday afternoon.
On Monday afternoon, the names of the two missing children were shared by the Upper Makefield Township Police Department with permission from the family members of the victims. The search continues for 2-year-old Matilda (Mattie) Sheils and 9-month-old Conrad Sheils. The body of their mother, who was identified as Katie Seley, 32, was recovered on Sunday.
"Their loving father, Jim Sheils, and their entire family would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support. They would also like to thank all of the personnel involved in this massive search effort to find Mattie and Conrad," the police department said.
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The Upper Makefield Township Police Department shared this photo of the Sheils family. |
In a news conference Sunday afternoon, Upper Makefield Fire Chief Tim Brewer said the family was visiting the area from Charleston, South Carolina, and was heading to a barbecue when their vehicle became trapped in a flash flood on Route 532.
Jim Sheils and the children's grandmother, who was not identified, were able to escape with Sheils' four-year-old son, while Seley took the two younger children. However, according to officials, Seley, who was Sheils' fiance, Mattie and Conrad were swept away by floodwaters.
Brewer said about 6 to 7 inches of rain fell within a two-hour period across parts of the area Saturday evening.
"Between 3 and 4 inches of rain fell in about an hour near Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania. This amount of rain in such a short time period is between a 1-in-500 and 1-in-1000-year event, meaning the probability of such an event happening in a given year is between 0.1 and 0.2%," AccuWeather Director of Forecasting Operations Dan DePodwin said.
The tragic and deadly flash flooding event in Bucks County was the result of a narrow band of intense rain, DePodwin explained.
"In my 44 years, I've never seen anything like it," Brewer said at a press conference. "When the water came up, it came up very swiftly."
Officials on Wednesday said weather and river conditions were not favorable for planned search operations. "The area and conditions will be continuously monitored throughout the day and if we are able to deploy our assets we will do so," the Upper Makefield Township Police Department said. "This setback has us all frustrated as we are desperate to bring Mattie and Conrad home."
On Monday evening, the police department released the identities of the four other people who lost their lives: Enzo Depiero, a 78-year-old male from Newtown Township; Linda Depiero, a 74-year-old female from Newtown Township; Susan Barnhart, a 53-year-old female from Titusville, New Jersey; and Yuko Love, a 64-year-old female from Newtown Township.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro visited the scene of the flooding on Sunday.
"Thank you to the first responders who worked through the night to rescue those caught in flood waters and keep people safe. We have your backs - and we'll be here as long as it takes to rebuild," Shapiro said in a Twitter post. "Our prayers are with those waiting for word about their loved ones, and those who lost friends, family, and neighbors. May their memories be a blessing."
Emergency crews were dispatched to a water rescue north of Charlotte, in Alexander County, North Carolina, just before 11:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, WSOC reported. Once on scene, crews located one person clinging to a tree. A raft was deployed and the victim was saved and eventually treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The victim told officials that another person had jumped out of the vehicle they were both in and entered the water. After an extensive search, the body of 49-year-old Lisa Michelle Riahi was found about 2 miles away from the scene.
According to Alexander County Emergency Management, 7.3 inches of rainfall was reported in the area of the incident.
Torrential downpours took aim at the storm-weary Northeast and inundated communities from New Jersey to Maine. Hundreds of flights and a handful of events were canceled due to the flooding rainfall.
Tweed-New Haven, a small airport located in New Haven, Connecticut, closed Sunday afternoon after rounds of showers and high tide flooded the only runway at the airport.
"[Tweed-New Haven Airport] acts as a collection bowl for neighborhood flood waters," officials from the airport wrote on Twitter. "High tide needs to recede to open tide gates to drain water through waterways."
As of Monday morning, the airport announced that floodwaters had receded and it was "fully operational" again.
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Slow-moving thunderstorms moving across New England on Sunday, July 16. (AccuWeather) |
In addition to the cancellations at Tweed airport, nearly 800 other flights were canceled Sunday across the Northeast. Newark Libert Airport, located in Newark, New Jersey, led the entire world in flight cancellations with 180 as of Sunday evening, according to FlightAware.
In New York City, John F. Kennedy Airport had 159 flight cancellations, making up 21% of origin flights at the airport. LaGuardia Airport, also in New York City, and Boston Logan International Airport exceeded 100 flight cancellations as well Sunday evening.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul urged people to stay off the roads Sunday until the storms had passed. According to Hochul, 5 inches of rain fell within two hours in Suffolk County, located on Long Island, Sunday morning.
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This image shows rain that fell from Saturday, July 15 to Sunday, July 16 over the northeastern United States. |
"Here comes the rain. It just seems unrelenting this year," Hochul said in a press briefing. "A flash flood doesn't give you warning...you have to avoid unnecessary travel."
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency for the entire state Sunday due to the severe weather. Murphy said in a tweet that the state was hit by hazardous weather conditions including intense rainfall, flash flooding and dangerous winds.
There was a report of vehicles stuck near New Brunswick, New Jersey, due to flooding Sunday afternoon. In Edison, New Jersey, the right lane of Interstate 287 southbound north of Exit 1 was closed due to flooding.
A NASCAR Cup Series race in Loudon, New Hampshire, was postponed due to the storms inundating the Northeast, according to NASCAR. The Crayon 301 race was originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon and will now be held at noon Monday.
The area was under a flash flood warning, areal flood watch and a tornado watch Sunday afternoon, with the tornado watch expiring at 3 p.m. EDT, a half hour after the race was originally supposed to begin.
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John Basher, of Buffalo, N.Y., carries an umbrella while walking on the rain-soaked race track, Sunday, July 16, 2023, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, in Loudon, N.H. Sunday's Crayon 301 NASCAR Cup Series race has been postponed until Monday, July 17, 2023, due to inclement weather, officials said Sunday. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) |
About an hour and a half north of Loudon, in Madison, New Hampshire, extreme meteorologist Reed Timmer said torrential rain caused flash floods that broke apart highways and covered roads in rocks and debris.
In a video shared by Timmer, half of Highway 113 was turned into a raging river while rocks covered the entire roadway. According to Timmer, the water was rushing off Highway 113 and onto a property just below the road.
"All this flow is going down into a home," said Timmer. "There are vehicles buried in feet of dirt and rock."
As recovery efforts continued in Vermont from recent floods, more rain moved into the hard-hit state. The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Burlington, Vermont, warned of the possibility of additional landslides amid the recent rounds of heavy rainfall in the area.
The warning came a few days after a landslide destroyed one home in Ripton and impacted over a dozen others Friday, prompting the evacuation of homeowners, according to NBC5.
A thunderstorm unleashed a deluge of rainfall Friday, with radar estimates between 3-3.5 inches falling over the Ripton area. Intense and prolonged rainfall can often trigger landslides and debris flows.
As storms rolled into Massachusetts early Sunday morning, the NWS issued a tornado watch for a large swath of New England. Severe thunderstorms moved across central Massachusetts, which prompted a few tornado warnings Sunday morning.
At least one tornado touched down just before 11 a.m. EDT in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, which is located between Springfield and Boston.
According to the NWS office in Boston, the EF0 twister damaged trees in the area, but no injuries were reported.
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