A slow-moving thunderstorm that hovered over Fountain Hill, Saucon Valley and other parts of the Lehigh Valley unleashed a deluge that resulted in flash flooding throughout the area Saturday.
Due to flooding and debris in the roadway, at around 2:30 p.m. Lower Saucon Township Police advised motorists to avoid Rt. 378 between Colesville Road and Mountain Drive North. Just after 3 p.m., police issued a follow-up alert in which they said Rt. 378 was open to traffic.
In Fountain Hill, the borough’s volunteer fire department responded to the 1000 block of Seneca Street, where a number of basements flooded due to the torrential rain that fell during the storm.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for central Northampton and eastern Lehigh counties until 5:30 p.m. Saturday due to the threat of continued heavy rainfall and additional flooding from storms.
Shortly before 3 p.m., the NWS said weather radar indicated that the thunderstorms affecting the area were “producing heavy rain, with upwards of 2 to 2.5 inches of rain having already fallen.”
The statement from the NWS also noted that emergency management officials had reported that Rt. 309 was closed at Huckleberry Drive in Upper Saucon Township due to flash flooding, and that there is the potential for flooding on I-78 between mile markers 56 and 69 and on the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Northeast Extension between mile markers 46 and 53.
Hail was also reported in connection with the storm cell that moved north across the Southern Lehigh, Saucon Valley and Bethlehem areas beginning at around 1 p.m.
Public safety officials urged residents to turn around if they encounter flooded roads, rather than attempt to drive through the flood waters.
According to the current NWS forecast for the Lehigh Valley, showers and thunderstorms are expected to continue through this afternoon before diminishing early this evening.
Note: This is a developing weather story. Information may change as conditions develop.
Floodwaters flow down N. Clewell Street in Fountain Hill during a torrential downpour produced by a severe thunderstorm Saturday afternoon. A number of homes in the borough had their basements flooded when the rain fell faster than storm sewers could accept it.
A car drives through flood waters on N. Clewell Street near Long Street in Fountain Hill Saturday.
Flood waters entered the basements of some homes in the 1000 block of Seneca Street in Fountain Hill, which is in a low-lying part of the borough prone to flash flooding.
Stormwater runoff overflows a section of sidewalk along N. Hoffert Street in Fountain Hill Saturday.
Stormwater floods part of the intersection of Seneca and N. Clewell streets in Fountain Hill Saturday.
The Fountain Hill Fire Department responded to the 1000 block of Seneca Street, where some of the more severe flash flooding occurred Saturday.
A number of basements were flooded when the heavy rain produced by the thunderstorm fell faster than sump pumps and storm sewers could remove it.
Above, stormwater approximately one foot deep fills a basement stairwell in Fountain Hill.
A screenshot shows the intense thunderstorm that produced the flash flooding as it appeared on weather radar around 1:40 p.m. Saturday. At that time, the heaviest rain was falling across parts of western Lower Saucon Township, eastern Salisbury Township and Fountain Hill borough.