PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia's suburbs continue to clear away the disaster wrought by what was left of Hurricane Ida this week. A disaster emergency has been declared in Bucks County, and at least one person was found dead in floodwater there. And three people were killed in Montgomery County.
Gov. Tom Wolf is visiting hard-hit areas of Pennsylvania Friday to survey the damage with local officials.
As of Friday morning, nearly 16,000 PECO customers were still without power. Most of them are in Montgomery County with more than 11,000 outages. And the lights are still out for more than 5,800 PP&L customers.
Milford Township, Trumbauersville and Ottsville fire crews were forced to stop water rescue efforts in Milford Township, Bucks County, on Wednesday night. They later went back during daylight and found a driver dead inside his car.
Commissioner Bob Harvie says this was one of many rescue operations through Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
"We'd had a lot of water rescues over the course of this storm, which puts a lot of people in danger -- obviously not just the people who are needing to be rescued, but the staff who are who are having to do those rescues," Harvie said.
In Montgomery County, an Upper Dublin woman was killed when a tree fell on her house, and two people drowned -- one in Skippack, one in Bridgeport, according to county officials.
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Officials cannot yet say which areas of Montgomery County were hit hardest, but they say the average rainfall was 8.25 inches. Several rivers, creeks and streams set records for flood levels, prompting a reminder from Commissioner Val Arkoosh.
"Flood waters contain hidden hazards, such as downed electrical lines, sharp objects, sudden drops where the gorund has been washed away," she said. "Please keep your children and pets away."
Montco officials say they set a record for the number of water rescues with 452 -- over three times more than the previous high set in last August’s flooding.
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Flooding still poses a threat in Bucks County, as well, especially for river towns, and officials are urging people to stay off the roads.
Bucks Emergency Services Director Audrey Kenny says they are going to be monitoring the flooding.
"We had the initial impact from the storm. And now we’re going to be monitoring the events of the [Delaware] River and the Neshaminy [Creek] over the coming days related to the flooding."
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Kenny says, on a normal day they get about 1,500 911 calls. However, during the storm they got about 5,200 -- more than three times that number.
She said many of those calls were for assistance in water rescues.
"There was a lot of folks who ended up in high water," Kenny said. "There were also regular rescues that occurred, pulling people out of apartments that were getting overtaken by water or homes."
Montgomery County also reported getting three times as many 911 calls as on a typical day, at 6,583.
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Emergency personnel in both counties say they are still assessing the damage.
Montgomery County Commissioner Ken Lawrence urged residents to call borough and county officials about any property damage suffered in the storm and its aftermath. He said it will help ensure people get any aid they are eligible for, and it helps the county and their municipality secure emergency federal funding.
Bucks officials say they have been in contact with Gov. Tom Wolf’s office, the White House, and FEMA for assistance.
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