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Severe Weather Causes Flooding, Downs Trees In Pittsburgh Area

ALLEGHENY COUNTY (KDKA) -- The severe weather that rolled through the Pittsburgh area Saturday afternoon and evening didn't last long, but it caused a mess in some parts of Allegheny and Washington counties.

"It was a real loud boom. I saw this big flash," Deemston Borough resident Jessie Belvis said.

When Belvis looked out the window, she saw three massive pine trees down.

pine-tree-down
(Photo Credit: Bryce Lutz/KDKA)

"They're probably over a hundred years old," she said. "They've been here forever."

At first, Belvis didn't realize what was happening.

"I thought it hit the house or that tree there," she said.

Her power was knocked out when the trees hit her power lines. Fortunately, West Penn Power showed up to take care of business and crews came by to clear this tree out of the road.

Tree-down
(Photo Credit: Bryce Lutz/KDKA)

Earlier in the evening on Streets Run Road in Baldwin, William Hahn said he was lucky to be alive.

"It was unbelievably fast for flood water," Hahn said. "Just from that tiny rainstorm, it was halfway up my doors, the whole interior's flooded up to seats."

He was driving home with his two daughters, who are a year-and-a-half old and seven years old, when he realized they were stuck.

"Get about halfway up the street, and just bum-rushed by water, flooded out that fast," Hahn said. "I climbed out the window, opened up the kids' windows and then grabbed them out of there and carried them over."

Hahn took his girls into Chapon's Greenhouse which is nearby. The owner says flooding here is normal.

"If I see the car in front of me and I see water coming up along the side, I'm turning around, I know that, especially if you have children in the car," Tim Chapon, part-owner of the greenhouse, said.

Allegheny County dispatch says the 4800 block of Streets Run Road will remain closed until sometime Sunday, according to Penndot and crews in Baldwin.

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The Allegheny County Twitter account also reported flooding at Route 51 and Lewis Run Road in Pleasant Hills and Painters Run Road in Upper St. Clair.

A tree reportedly brought down wires in the 2200-block of Woodward Avenue, trees were down in the road at Arnold Street and Obey Street, and a tree was down on a vehicle at Harex Way and Castlegate Avenue.

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