Towns across region prepare for flooding

After five relatively quiet years, officials in the region's river towns were reacquainting themselves Thursday with a familiar and unwelcome drill - getting ready for floods.

As a result of two major rainstorms in five days, the National Weather Service warned that during the next two days, the region could see some of its most significant river flooding since 2006.

"We've put out the word to everybody," said Tom Cinaglia, public works director in West Norriton, along the Schuylkill in Montgomery County and one of the region's - and the nation's - most flood-prone communities, based on federal flood-insurance data.

The worst was expected to hit there around lunchtime Friday.

"We've got all our ducks in line," said Bill Winslade, borough manager of Yardley, along the Delaware, where a flooding crest was forecast before daybreak Saturday.

While it would take a while for all of the rains ingested by headwaters and tributaries to work their way downstream in the major rivers, the weather service said flooding would occur overnight in smaller streams in parts of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties. Up to four inches of rain, better than a month's worth, could end up falling in some areas.

Residents of Chadds Ford, Downingtown, and Pottstown were warned to stay alert for high water.

The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, which is surrounded by the Brandywine Creek, announced that school would be closed Friday.

Meanwhile, winds were contributing to a more-immediate threat along the lower Delaware. A coastal flood warning was posted for areas along the Delaware from Wilmington to Philadelphia until 8 a.m. Friday as strong winds from the southeast continued to force Delaware Bay waters northward.

The weather service said flooding was likely along Delaware Avenue in Philadelphia and across the river on Route 130, in Beverly, and, of course, on the Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden.

On a less-ominous note, the weather service did shave a few drops from the high-water projections along the Delaware and Schuylkill.

Still, the Delaware was due to reach 21.7 feet at Trenton, or 1.7 feet above flood stage, and Winslade said that would be a big deal in Yardley.

He said the borough would set up a shelter and undertake voluntary evacuations of about 80 families along the Delaware. Winslade attended a flood summit Thursday that included fire and Red Cross officials.

"We're getting into a full preplan," he said.

The Schuylkill was projected to crest about a foot above flood stage in Philadelphia between 1 and 3 p.m., said the Weather Service's Greg Heavener. The crest probably would occur in West Norriton around noon, he added.

Cinaglia said the township had readied caution signs along flood-prone roads and was prepared to convert the riverfront bike path into an emergency exit for residents of the Port Indian neighborhood.

But he said the town had not made evacuation plans as of late Thursday. "We're holding our own right now," he said.

Evidently, the region's motorists also held their own during the puddling and road-ponding phase of the storm during the day Thursday, and no major weather-related mishaps were reported.

However, heavier rains were likely to cause more severe problems later that could persist into the morning rush.

Heavener said he expected to see at least minor flooding almost everywhere before the waters finally recede.