At least three people are dead and four others are missing after they were swept away by fast-rising floodwaters in Pennsylvania, officials said.
Bucks County Coroner Meredith Buck confirmed late Saturday that two women and one man died as a result of being caught in floodwaters, reported the Bucks County Courier Times, part of the USA TODAY Network.
“It’s very possible it could be more,” Buck said of the total number of fatalities.
Two of the dead were found together in one area and the third was found in a separate location. All three were found outside their vehicles, Buck said. Officials are trying to sort out which vehicles belong to which victims as many drivers abandoned their cars in the water, which in some places rose to five feet above the roadway.
“The worst of which occurred along Route 532 in the area of Stonebridge Crossing Road between Aqueduct Road and Wrightstown Road. The flash flooding caught numerous motorists by surprise and many were trapped,” the Upper Makefield Police wrote in an online update Sunday.
Search efforts continue Sunday
“Today, the search efforts will continue as we have 3-4 people who are still unaccounted for. We ask that you avoid this area,” police said Sunday morning. “We also ask that you keep those families who lost loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.”
Roads throughout Upper Makefield remain unpassable and closed; Bucks County park rangers stood guard to keep drivers away.
Newtown Township police said on social media Saturday night that they were helping look for a missing person lost in the flood near Taylorsville and Washington Crossing roads. Flooding was also reported in Lower Makefield and Yardley where water covered Route 32.
Search for victims of flooding along Delaware River
Volunteers at Washington Crossing United Methodist Church were caring for victims and providing shelter.
Family pastor Shari Bonet described a scene she called “heartbreaking,” where people sat waiting for word on their missing family members — missing wives, missing children.
“This one guy I was praying with had been on the phone with his wife when her car got stuck, and she said the water was getting too high and she needed to get out. That was the last he heard from her. They found her phone with the car, but she was still missing,” Bonet said.
Others, she said, were flood survivors seeking refuge after abandoning their cars and wading through the high waters to safety.
“They came in and were soaked. We gave them coffee, dry clothes and blankets,” Bonet said.
