QUAKERTOWN, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia region got walloped again by severe storms Tuesday night. Bucks County saw some of the worst of it.
Huge spots of standing water remained in parts of Quakertown Wednesday. At an auto shop along Front Street, the back parking lot was flooded with about 5 to 7 inches. Some streets and basements were also flooded, prompting evacuations and rescues.
The National Weather Service issued a flood watch that remains in effect through 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Meteorologist Ray Martin said cities tend to get the worst of the flooding.
“Impervious pavement, asphalt roads, buildings and everything — you get very quick runoff from those surfaces,” he explained.
Martin advised avoiding low-lying areas, staying off the roads if possible, and following the old adage: Turn around, don’t drown.
“With flooding, the No. 1 cause of death is being washed away by the floodwaters. It often happens in a car,” he said.
State officials said 6 inches of rushing water is enough to sweep a person away; 12 inches is enough to carry most cars, and 2 feet is enough to sweep away trucks and SUVs.
Parts of the region also faced a tornado watch Tuesday night, and a handful of counties saw tornado warnings. After seeing a few such warnings this month, Martin said that’s just par for the course.
“It’s summer. We have a lot of instability with all the Gulf moisture, and these systems have been a little more vigorous the last few weeks coming down into that atmosphere,” he said.
The storms also significantly affected Philadelphia International Airport. The FAA issued an hours-long ground stop, and there were more than 240 cancellations at PHL on Tuesday.
On top of that, American Airlines experienced a system-wide outage that left flights across the country grounded. The nationwide ground stop lasted for about 45 minutes.
American said its systems have since been restored.
Flood watch in effect through 2 p.m. Wednesday
Flood watch in effect through 2 p.m. Wednesday
