WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Swollen rivers across the US East Coast were receding Friday after days of rain and flooding submerged roadways, forced the evacuation of more than 120,000 residents and left at least six dead.
Flooding affected communities from New York to Virginia, with much of the damage along the Susquehanna River, bloated first by Tropical Storm Irene and then soon after by Tropical Storm Lee. More than 12 inches of rain have been dumped in parts of New York and Pennsylvania since Monday.
President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency for New York and Pennsylvania overnight.
In Luzerne County, Pa., where some 100,000 people were evacuated from their homes, the Susquehanna River crested at a record-setting 42.66 feet. Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton said the river crested about four feet higher than the National Weather Service originally estimated, The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre reported.
Leighton urged residents to heed evacuation orders that remain in effect.
The city’s levees remained intact through the night but by Friday afternoon there was growing concern about pressure on the system, which had sprung a few small leaks, Luzerne County engineer Jim Brozina said at a news conference.
“It is under extreme stress right now. I mean, we are well beyond our design for this system,” he said. “Every hour is a benefit to us as that river starts to recede.”
By 4:00pm Friday the river had receded slightly, to 41.4.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett warned residents to avoid flood water, saying the public faces a public health emergency because 10 sewage treatment plants are underwater and not working. “Flood water is toxic and polluted,” he said at a press conference Thursday.
Three people in the state died in flooding-related incidents, including an eight-year-old boy in Lancaster County who was swept into a storm drain, said East Cocalico police, according to the Intelligencer Journal.
In Binghamton, N.Y., waters from the Chenango and Susquehanna rivers spilled over the city’s flood walls, submerging streets.
It was the city’s worst flooding since flood walls were built nearly a century ago, Mayor Matt Ryan said.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo took a helicopter tour of the region Friday, saying that the area was beginning to survey damage that included thousands of destroyed homes and businesses, the Press & Sun Bulletin reported. “We’re coming out of the emergency phase. Now, we’re in the assessment phase,” he said.
More than 20,000 people were evacuated in the area but a few were able to return home Friday, the newspaper said.
Flash flood warnings issued by the National Weather Service were in effect through Friday night for counties in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland and Virginia.
Amtrak said Friday it was canceling all trains to and from Washington, D.C., and stations in Richmond and Newport News, Va., as a result of flooded tracks in Virginia.
Two people died in Virgina after being swept away by flood waters, The Washington Post reported. A 12-year-old boy was swept away by flooding from a creek in Fairfax County and a 67-year-old man died in a car when it was overwhelmed by rushing water from the Potomac River.
In Maryland, a 49-year-old man died after drowning near his home in Pasadena, near the Chesapeake Bay, the Post reported.
Elsewhere, the Delaware River in Trenton, N.J., overflowed its banks Thursday, flooding several city neighborhoods and prompting the closure of schools, The Star-Ledger reported.