Pennsylvania and West Virginia Brace for More Flooding After Heavy Rains

Heavy rainfall in parts of Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia prompted warnings of overflowing rivers and creeks on Friday, as authorities dealt with the aftermath of a storm that had forced road closures and rescues of people stranded in flooded streets.

During the 18-hour period that started around 5:30 p.m. Thursday, a 60-mile-wide band of rain swept from the easternmost tip of Kentucky across the Pittsburgh area and over Dunkirk, N.Y., on the Lake Erie shore, letting loose from 1.25 to more than four inches of rain, said Lee Hendricks, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.

Washington and Allegheny Counties in Western Pennsylvania got most of it, he said.

Jonathan DeBor, the council president in Oakdale Borough, in Allegheny County, said the flooding there “was the worst since the flood during Ivan in 2004, which was the worst in the history of the town.” He was referring to the impact from Hurricane Ivan, which dumped up to seven inches of rain in the central areas of the state.

The National Weather Service said that after the heavy rainfall across Western Pennsylvania, the Clarion River was expected to rise above its 13-foot flood stage on Friday afternoon, cresting at 13.5 feet in the evening, at Cooksburg, an unincorporated community on its northern banks.

In Pittsburgh, officials were bracing on Friday for more flooding from the Ohio River, which was expected to crest at about 2 a.m. Saturday.

“It’s not going to be, frankly, a good day on the Ohio River in the next week,” Mr. Hendricks said.

The rain tapered off on Friday afternoon, as crews cleaned up the damage and worked to reopen streets. But in addition to the flood warnings, high winds were also of concern. Wind advisories were in effect for Western Pennsylvania and northeastern West Virginia, where gusts of up to 50 miles per hour had the potential to topple trees.