Flash Flood — Venango, Pennsylvania

2006-08-29 · near Oil City, Venango, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

By 713 AM EDT, Sage Run overflowed and flooded Rte 62 near Oil City; and buildings were flooded in Franklin. By 920 AM EDT, the town of Polk was flooded; about 50 homes received major damage. People were chest deep in water and had to be rescued. When water began spilling over the top of the earthen Piffer Dam, 250 people were evacuated. Other roads in the southwest part of Venango County were closed or washed out. By 8 AM EDT, the city of Franklin declared a disaster: the water treatment plant was flooded. Rte 62 remained closed, because of flooding, from Franklin to the Mercer County line. A manufacturing plant was flooded by 830 AM EDT. A gas station was flooded. A bridge was washed out on Deep Hollow Rd. 20 people had to be rescued. Polk and other parts of Venango County remained flooded until at least 5 PM EDT. Rain gauge in Polk recorded 3.2 inches of rain in 2 hours.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5529359. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.