‘My relationship with Mother Nature may never recover’: Southwestern Pa. residents share how record rainfall affected them

I work with the homeless community. The Jail [Eliza Furnace] Trail flooded last week and this week. We have spent hours getting the people experiencing homelessness pallets, digging trenches, washing and drying their belongings. It feels like we’re just playing whack a mole because we get their tents and belongings dry and then it rains again. The mud is thick and hard to work with. If they opened their tents, water rushed in. They don’t have good shoes for the mud and rain. I feel so hopeless sometimes. We keep losing the fight, over and over. We made a bathroom out of pallets and a shower curtain and pushed down into the mud. A man didn’t have shoes, just slides, and we had no shoes to give him, so we wrapped his feet in plastic bags. It isn’t humane that he has to walk around in plastic bags. But we had no other choice. We have a wish list. 

Megan Pellechio, Downtown

An unidentified person with plastic bags on their feet. (Courtesy of Megan Pellechio)

We returned from a vacation for eclipse viewing to find our sump pump had failed. Our basement (finished with a painted concrete floor), had water flowing from the pump into the drain halfway across the room. We bailed by hand until late into the night, and fortunately the rain slowed and the pump stopped overflowing. Next day, our plumber came and replaced the pump. Here’s a hearty thank you to him and all plumbers for going above and beyond!

Bill Vandivier, Park Place

In our neighborhood, an alley named Alluvian (how apropos) Street has had a ‘waterfall’ in one spot that has spread mud, leaves, small rocks and other debris across the road. 

Lori Hagen, Hazelwood

The record rainfall certainly has affected youth sports. As the head coach of a 6U girls softball North Hills Athletic Association team, we have to closely monitor the rain, check the field and revise our practices. In fact, on Saturday we practiced on a basketball court and the players did great!

Tom Baker, Ross Township

We came home from a trip to Erie (yay eclipse!) on Thursday morning, April 11, and both my husband and I had to go straight to work. Imagine my surprise when I came home to a new water feature, otherwise known as our front stairs.

Our house is more than 150 years old, and we’ve been the stewards of this old place for nearly 20 of those years. Aside from leaks via a few older skylights — since replaced — we’ve never had water damage. That all changed on Thursday.

We first found water running down the walls of our living room and den, especially disturbing as the most striking feature of those rooms is a wood coffered ceiling that is particularly beautiful. We deployed towels and mops, and we kept drying as fast as we could, trying to save the wood.

Then we noticed water on the sunroom carpet and thought the newer skylight had failed us. But we soon realized the water was coming up through the floor, spilling in where the carpet met the stone walls. At this point, it started to feel both biblical and comical. We pulled out our little carpet cleaning machine, which has a minuscule 3-inch nozzle, making an effort to suck up the water, but the wet stain continued to spread.

Friday we retrieved a shop vac from my husband’s office, but even it couldn’t make a dent in the wet carpet and the even more soaked pad underneath.

So we made calls to our homeowners insurance agent and a restoration company. As I write this, our house is in disarray, and I expect we’ll be absorbing most of the expense ourselves. But we and our cats are safe and still have a place to live. We’ll get all the damage sorted out eventually, but my relationship with Mother Nature may never recover.

Kimberlee Love, Glen Osborne

The ceiling in my apartment bathroom has been leaking; I’ve had to use a bucket.

Ruquayyah Abdullah, Friendship

It has been amazing. I much prefer when it rains, so it was nice to get some consistent rainfall after a lackluster winter and dry summer. I haven’t had any personal issues due to the rainfall or flooding, and it really hasn’t affected me. As someone who loves walking and hiking when it is rainy, I was able to hit a handful of the surrounding state parks and see waterfalls that greatly benefited from the rain. I hope for more rain, but in a way that does not lead to continued flooding.

Joseph, Lawrenceville

A 1930s-era culvert-style bridge crossing TenMile Creek in Washington County under water in April 2024 during record-setting rainfall in the region. (Courtesy of Kathleen Martincic)

It’s not uncommon in my rural area for a damaged or worn out bridge on a low volume road to be closed rather than repaired or replaced. Bridges are expensive. 

That happened on my road about 15 years before we moved here, when arsonists destroyed the covered bridge crossing TenMile Creek. Since then, the only access to my house and my neighbors’ houses is across a 1930s-era culvert-style bridge designed to go underwater during high water events. To lessen the frequencies of these floodings, an additional culvert was added about five years after the fire. Since then and especially now with climate change, the flooding continues and the patch washes out. 

Our request for a real bridge has always been met by the same response: The tiny borough cannot justify the cost for just three households. So we pay attention to weather reports and always hope that when flooding does occur, we find ourselves on the home side of our fair-weather bridge.

 And so it happened with this last set of rains.

On April 2, the bridge went under and by the next day had sustained substantial damage. When I returned home from class on April 12, I found the bridge under water again. I would wait until 3 a.m. before the waters receded enough for me to be able to cross it by foot and make my way home. Driving across would have to wait until later when the borough had a chance to remove a chunk of concrete that the flood waters had pushed to the middle of the span. Council are seeking a funding source to replace the bridge. I wish them success.

Kathleen Martincic, Deemston Borough, Washington County

How has record rainfall affected you?

Not at all.

John Wojtyna, East Liberty

I had minor flooding in the basement of my house. My wine locker at StorExpress in the South Side Flats had major flooding. Some of my collection was damaged as a result (sorry; no pics to share).

Curt N., Green Tree

Spring is when all the sprint sports start for me. But this April, the rain has caused so many high school competitions to be postponed that I barely have any time to practice with my team. We have like three or more track meets every week in April now. A typical early April season you have maybe one or two with several days in between, but with so many reschedulings it is pushing my limited coaching staff as well. Most schools have only one track so you have middle school and high school track meets with as many being rescheduled this week for me. Looks like six track meets total for my staff in one week, which is insane.

Felicia Mycyk, Beaver County

Bought our first home on April 15, 2023. Three more days would’ve been one year of living in this house, but unfortunately, we are a victim of the flash flood that happened on April 11. Half of our home is damaged. We are not able to live in our home. Still can’t get a hold of our insurance agent since Friday morning.

Brandon Foster, South Fayette

The record-setting rainfall that occurred in April 2024 played havoc with Brandon Foster’s house in South Fayette.(Courtesy of Brandon Foster)

I commute on the Parkway East daily to and from Homestead. When the Parkway floods, it turns a 15-to-20 minute commute into a 60 minute-plus commute. Other than that, the gloominess hasn’t been great for my psyche.

Patrick Roberts, East Allegheny