Floods across eastern United States, many stranded

By Jon Hurdle

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Floodwaters killed at least four
people and forced hundreds from their homes across the eastern
United States on Wednesday after days of torrential rains
pushed swollen rivers over their banks.

The flooding prompted emergency declarations in New Jersey
and Pennsylvania and disrupted travel from Virginia to New
York.

The U.S. Coast Guard sent a helicopter to rescue up to 70
people stranded on rooftops in Wilkes-Barre, northeastern
Pennsylvania. In Manayunk, a Philadelphia suburb, residents
were asked to leave when the Schuylkill River overflowed its
banks.

“People are being asked to seek higher ground right now,”
said Ted Qualli, a spokesman for Philadelphia’s mayor.

In Frederick County, Maryland, officials said three people
drowned after trying to cross a flooded road in their car, and
two teenagers from the town of Keymar are missing, believed to
have been swept away by floodwaters. In Wayne County,
Pennsylvania, officials confirmed one flood-related death.

In Pennsylvania, people were evacuated from at least 11
counties after several inches of rain overnight caused rivers
to overflow and prompted official warnings that water levels
would continue to rise after the downpour stopped.

In Yardley, a town on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware
River, emergency officials told residents to leave their homes
as the river rose.

The National Weather Service said that Montgomery County
officials in Maryland have ordered a mandatory evacuation of
about 500 people, prompted by the potential failure of an
earthen dam on Lake Needwood.

By late morning, the American Red Cross had opened 18
shelters in northeastern Pennsylvania and was providing food
and shelter to at least 500 people, said Justin Fleming, a
spokesman for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

Rain in the Delaware Valley of southeastern Pennsylvania
fell at a pace of between 1.5 and 3 inches during one four-hour
period overnight, capping between 5 and 7 inches that has
deluged the region since Friday.

With extensive disruption to roads and businesses in most
of central and eastern Pennsylvania, Gov. Ed Rendell declared a
disaster emergency for 46 of the state’s 67 counties and New
Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine issued a limited state of emergency for
five counties.

The heavy rain has deluged much of the northeastern United
States, including Washington, where as much as 7 inches of rain
fell between Sunday and Monday, causing some government
buildings to close and keeping workers out of their offices.

Rivers and creeks were expected to continue to rise after
the heavy overnight rain. The Susquehanna River at Bradford,
Pennsylvania, was expected to crest at 28 feet on Wednesday
evening, 2 feet above flood stage.

In Philadelphia, the Schuylkill River could rise to its
highest level in 125 years, the National Weather Service
warned. They predicted 14.5-foot (4.4 meter) crest by Thursday
would match the levels seen by Floyd in September 1999.