At a Glance
- Heavy rain moved into the area Monday afternoon.
- The National Weather Service declared a flash flood emergency.
Motorists were stranded in cars and some vehicles were submerged Monday when torrential rain forced the National Weather Service to declare a flash flood emergency for Philadelphia and surrounding communities in southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey.
Northeast of Philadelphia, at least three cars were submerged on Willow Lane in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, NWS storm reports showed.
According to the NWS, a flash flood emergency is declared when there's a "severe threat to human life and catastrophic damage from a flash flood is happening or will happen soon." The flash flood emergency for the Philadelphia area and parts of New Jersey was in effect until 7 p.m. EDT Monday.
(MORE: Why You Should Never Ignore a Flash Flood Emergency)
Motorists also had to be rescued from flooded cars in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, and in Philadelphia, the NWS said. Additional water rescues were reported in Melrose Park.
Tacony Creek in Cheltenham rose 6 feet in an hour and half, according to the NWS.
As the storms moved through the area, a person was trapped when a tree crushed a car shortly before 1:30 p.m. EDT in Bensalem. Members of the Bensalem Fire Rescue freed the person, the department tweeted.
It wasn't immediately clear if the flooding had caused any injuries.
In New Jersey, flooding shut down lanes in both directions of Interstate 287 in Morristown. Vehicles were stranded in Bogota, Garfield and River Edge. In Ocean City, water was reportedly up to the hoods of multiple trapped vehicles, according to the National Weather Service.
In all, over 40 reports of flash flooding were relayed to the National Weather Service in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, Monday afternoon.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
