“Turn around, don’t drown.”

Valerie Peterson, district press officer of PennDOT, said this motto is crucial when driving towards high waters. High waters were present on several roadways throughout Waynesburg Borough last week.  

Peterson said, there was more than 80 road closures throughout the entire district. Some closures dealt with the water, while others were due to fallen trees or utility issues.

The areas that were hit particularly hard by the flooding included 10 Mile Creek and its tributaries, as well as Browns Run, said Gregory Leathers, director of emergency management in Greene County.

Leathers said the light rain over the weekend of Sept. 8-9 was all he expected for the region, but  the rain the Waynesburg area got Monday, Sept. 10 “did us in.” Leathers, doesn’t expect the region to get rainfall during the weekend, but will be keeping watch for the weather report on Monday.

“Right now we’re looking at one to two [inches],” Leathers said. “These three days of dry weather are going to help us immensely.”

Leathers’ main role is to make sure that the correct first-responders are going to the right areas of the region, where people are in need.

Peterson said the flooding in Waynesburg is preventable. She said that a very helpful way for the community to help in the process is not to litter., When people litter, Peterson said, whether it be a plastic bag or a bottle cap, all of the waste leads to the main pipes, where water is supposed to exit when it rains. When the litter builds up into the pipes, it prevents the water from draining properly and can cause more severe flooding. PennDOT closely monitors the roadways in these types of situations, and is also preparing for the colder months to come as well.

“Anybody out on the roadways should not litter because any time you throw that empty bottle out of your car, or that grocery bag from the local grocery store, it ends up alongside the roadways and often gets washed into the grates, where the water is naturally supposed to flow,” Peterson said. “Our crews are out there to help people – with this kind of a scenario, we know what roadways typically have water runoff, we monitor them.”

Peterson said her team is on close watch as the remnants of Hurricane Florrence passes through southwestern Pennsylvania. They are doing one thing, she said: expecting the unexpected.