Centre County declares disaster emergency after heavy rain, flooding hits Penns Valley
Centre County is under a disaster emergency after heavy rains caused flooding and road closures in the Penns Valley area.
Centre County Commissioners had an emergency meeting Thursday afternoon to approve a countywide declaration of disaster emergency due to localized flooding. The declaration states heavy rain and flooding has endangered the health, safety and welfare of “substantial number of persons residing in Centre County and threatens to create problems greater in scope than Centre County may be able to resolve.”
“Heavy rains and low-lying area flooding threatens to cause injury, damage, and suffering to the persons and property of Centre County,” the declaration states.
Aaronsburg appears to have been hit the worst with rain, with 5.42 inches, according to the National Weather Service precipitation report posted Thursday afternoon. Four miles west of Poe Valley State Park recorded 5.28 inches and Spring Mills had 4.5 inches Thursday morning. Several roads were closed throughout Thursday due to flooding, though many had reopened by the day.
The Penns Valley Area High School and the Old Gregg School are acting as emergency shelters.
“A disaster declaration allows us to pull down resources from, especially the state government, as it relates to PEMA, and it also allows us to streamline the process for recouping any damages that may occur,” Commissioner Michael Pipe told the Centre Daily Times.
Once the county hits a certain threshold of documented damage that has occurred to homes, public property and businesses, they’re able to take the total and if the state meets the threshold, the county can be reimbursed for some of the activities.
“The Centre County Emergency Management Agency has been working over the last 24 hours not only to prepare and to get resources in place, but then also to assist with any resource allocation that’s needed to any of the folks who are in harm’s way,” Pipe said.
The county is assisting with resources people might need, like generators, water and food. The Red Cross is also involved in these efforts, he said.
Pipe encouraged those affected by the flooding to stay in touch with their community, stay updated with PennDOT and PEMA notifications, and follow their local municipal government’s recommendations. Avoiding flooded and closed roadways is important.
“We’re monitoring the forecast to see if any rain is coming — we’re not seeing (that), which is good, but it’s going to take some time to get this dried out,” he said.
The county has only issued a disaster declaration for flooding a few times, Pipe said.
The NWS at State College said they’re working with emergency management to determine what has happened and the extent of the flooding.
“At this point it does appear that the eastern Centre County was the bullseye for the most significant amount of rain, (which) led to rapid rises on streams and creeks, and certainly some road closures,” John Banghoff, meteorologist at the NWS State College, said.
Millheim Borough Council President Robert Zeigler said the borough closed off some roads during the day due to flooding, but in other cases they closed roads in case the water didn’t recede fast enough. People were still able to get to the east part of Millheim as of late Thursday afternoon.
“This really ... highlights the need for proactive flood mitigation in these smaller rural communities,” he said. “We’re fortunate (in Millheim) because it isn’t ... horrible, but it shows the potential of what the future is to come.”
Penns Creek was at about 10.24 feet as of 5 p.m. Thursday, according to the latest observed value at the National Weather Services’ gauge. Flood stage is at 8 feet. Bald Eagle Creek near the Beech Creek station was also just above flood stage on Thursday afternoon.
In State College, Penn State announced the Overnight RV lot would be closed Thursday night due to excessive rain. The lot is expected to open at 10 a.m. Friday.
After multiple closures Thursday, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation issued an update just before 4:30 p.m. on the status of Centre County roads:
State Route 45 between Route 445 (North Street) near Madisonburg and Route 235 near Hartleton in Union County reopened at about 6:30 a.m. Friday. The roadway was closed overnight so PennDOT crews could inspect the bridge in Millheim, which is also back open.
This story was originally published September 23, 2021 at 5:21 PM.
