[Video Update] Township Recounts Water Rescues, Flooding

In a night of rain and flooding that could have had fatal consequences in Upper Dublin, all returned to their homes safely—if not with their cars, then at least with their lives.

That's according to Upper Dublin Township Manager Paul Leonard, who said that the township's emergency services had to make several rescues on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

"We had motorists trapped in their vehicles, vehicles being pulled into stream ways with rapidly moving water," Leonard said. "It looked like we had a chance for fatalities."

Leonard told Patch that there were three or four "very serious" rescues involving the help of the Fort Washington Fire Company and Upper Dublin Police Department. Rescues occurred at the 309 exit to Pennsylvania Avenue, at the intersection of Virginia Drive and Dreshertown Road, and at Limekiln Pike and Vance Drive, where a vehicle slipped into waters propelled by the Sandy Run Creek.

Leonard said that several motorists were trapped in their vehicles in dire circumstances.

"I have absolute admiration for the responders from the fire company, public works department and police department," Leonard said. "They worked together to get people out of vehicles, off of their roofs and to safety."

"One of our dispatchers talked the residents through every single step," Leonard continued. "Right up until telling them ‘jump to a pickup truck near you’ or ‘start swimming’... but there were no significant injuries."

Leonard said that the township had its first rescue at approximately 2:30 a.m., and that the heavy rains caused over five inches of rain to fall in less than three hours. This rapid rainfall on already saturated ground caused "epic" flash flooding on roadways that are not usually flood-prone, Leonard said.

Flooding caused closures at the intersections of Camphill and Susquehanna Roads, Highland Avenue and Camphill Road, Pennsylvania and Commerce avenues, Delaware and Virginia drives, and both ramps to the Pennsylvania Turnpike. All roads reopened by 3 p.m. Thursday.

In addition, Loch Alsh Road remains closed, due to the dam's emergency plans. Upper Dublin was working in conjunction with Ambler Borough to possibly pump water from the reservoir to allow additional room for rainwater. [Update: It has been confirmed that the dam overflowed Thursday morning. See a press release about the dam here.]

Leonard said that further rain and flooding was still a significant concern Thursday afternoon. [Update: Thursday afternoon came and went without incident.]

"We're very concerned about additional rain," Leonard said. "The county has a detailed weather forecast, and they told us that as little as half an inch of rain could put us right back into a severe flooding situation."

Leonard also gave a damage report, and said that around 15 residential properties had taken water into their first floor living spaces, most along Ambler Road and in the Public Park Condominiums. The township will help residences with first floor flooding receive emergency care, and direct anyone with minimal basement flooding to Ready.gov for information about how to properly and safely clean up after flooding.

Leonard said that some local businesses were also impacted, including West German BMW, which had roughly five vehicles swept into the stream behind the dealership's property before the township, along with Whitemarsh, helped to retrieve them. See our video for images from the scene.

Officials remind motorists to exercise caution and never drive into standing or moving water. Pools and streams can often be deceptively deep, and it only takes several inches of water to incapacitate a vehicle.