Heavy Rains Pound Pittsburgh, Cause Road Closures

This story was reported and written by Patch Editor Becky Brindle.

Heavy rains are causing multiple roads to flood and the Allegheny County Emergency Operations Center has now been activated.

Click here for current Twitter updates from the Allegheny County officials.

Thousands of West Penn Power customers are without power. Click here for the latest information on outages.

A motorist in Robinson was rescued from her vehicle after being surrounded by rising floodwaters. Click here for details.

As of 9:30 a.m., Pittsburgh police report the following road closures:

• Route 51, vheicles are being routed to the Parkway
• Banksville and Crane to Parkway West
• McNeilly and Route 88 area
• Morange near Cannevin
• Route 51 - West Liberty Ave.
• Bausman and Edgebrook

In addition, Pittsburgh police are telling drivers to avoid going to the West End. They closed the West End Circle. They're also asking drivers to stay away from roadways south of Mt. Washington.

The flooding also brought some Port Authority bus routes and T rides to a halt. As of 9:30 a.m., the Blue Line service remained closed as crews removed debris from the tracks. Click here for current Port Authority updates on Twitter.

The outbound Fort Pitt Tunnel was closed shortly before 8:30 and reopened at 9 a.m. due to flooding.

Whitehall is closing Steward and Saw Mill Run Boulevard (Rt 51), according to Allegheny County officials.

The Peters Township police chief reports that areas of Valley Brook Road got hit hard—and that some residents in Peters have feet of flood water in their homes.

Upper St. Clair residents received an emergency notification phone call asking them to stay off the roadways if possible.

This intersection on the border of Baldwin Township and Pittsburgh's Overbrook neighborhood is flooded badly due to the heavy rains. Click here for video.

Dormont resident Nick Yurkovich tells Patch there is flooding on LaSalle Avenue in Dormont.

The Canonsburg area is also seeing flooding and experiencing power outages. Click here for updates.

The National Weather Service has extended a flash flood warning to 11:15 a.m. Wednesday. A flash flood watch remains in effect in the area until 6 a.m. Thursday.

Meteorologists warn drivers not to attempt to travel across flooded roadways. It only takes a few inches of flowing water to carry vehicles away.