Ida remnants swamp region
Storm swells area streams, overtakes roadways, spurs evacuation notices
Jeff Ellis watches the rising Big Spring “Race” running adjacent to the Hite Apartment Building along Spring Street in Williamsburg on Wednesday afternoon. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Crews for Frankstown Township Public Works, Geeseytown Community Fire Company and PennDOT clear a downed tree across Route 22 two miles east of Geeseytown on Wednesday afternoon. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Rushing water overtakes the road off Route 36 North between East Freedom and Hollidaysburg. More than 5 inches of rain fell from midnight to 9 p.m. Wednesday. MIrror photo by Rachel Foor
Route 866 leading south out of Williamsburg was closed early Wednesday. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
A Duncansville police officer directs motorists to turn around along Third Avenue in Duncansville on Wednesday morning. Mirror photo by Holly Claycomb
Floodwaters nearly submerge the fencing around Hoss’s Soccer Complex on West Loop Road on Wednesday afternoon. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Floodwaters cover Turkey Valley Road in Hollidaysburg on Wednesday. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor
Floodwaters overtake pastures off route 36 between East Freedom and Hollidaysburg on Wednesday. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor
Floodwaters cover a road leading to a neighborhood off route 36 between East Freedom and Hollidaysburg. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor
Jeff Ellis watches the rising Big Spring “Race” running adjacent to the Hite Apartment Building along Spring Street in Williamsburg on Wednesday afternoon. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Crews for Frankstown Township Public Works, Geeseytown Community Fire Company and PennDOT clear a downed tree across Route 22 two miles east of Geeseytown on Wednesday afternoon. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Rushing water overtakes the road off Route 36 North between East Freedom and Hollidaysburg. More than 5 inches of rain fell from midnight to 9 p.m. Wednesday. MIrror photo by Rachel Foor
Route 866 leading south out of Williamsburg was closed early Wednesday. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
A Duncansville police officer directs motorists to turn around along Third Avenue in Duncansville on Wednesday morning. Mirror photo by Holly Claycomb
Floodwaters nearly submerge the fencing around Hoss’s Soccer Complex on West Loop Road on Wednesday afternoon. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Floodwaters cover Turkey Valley Road in Hollidaysburg on Wednesday. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor
Floodwaters overtake pastures off route 36 between East Freedom and Hollidaysburg on Wednesday. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor
Floodwaters cover a road leading to a neighborhood off route 36 between East Freedom and Hollidaysburg. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor
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Floodwaters crested Wednesday at about 17 feet in Williamsburg when the remnants of Hurricane Ida passed over the region, according to Mayor Ted Hyle, causing multiple road closures and evacuation orders.
The water level was a little higher than normal flooding, Hyle said.
According to the Altoona-Blair County Airport in Martinsburg, 5.34 inches of rain fell between midnight and 9 p.m. Wednesday. Accuweather meteorologist Joe Curtis stated that the Altoona area received 5.62 inches of rain since the storm started Tuesday evening.
Over a dozen roads in Blair County were closed at times to motorists as floodwaters from creeks and a river overflowed in low-lying places, according to PennDOT travel advisories.
In some areas the fast-moving waters littered the roadways with debris from trees and road signage, which PennDOT crews worked to remove.
"If the rain is completely over, then PennDOT and the highway crews should have things opened up tomorrow," said Mark Taylor, Blair County director of emergency services.
A number of residents in Frankstown and Allegheny townships were evacuated to the Blair County Convention Center and were later moved to hotels, Taylor said.
There were also some stranded motorists who needed to be rescued, Taylor said.
Penelec said 160 Blair County customers remained without power on Wednesday evening, and that it is investigating the outages.
Traffic signals in Altoona were also affected by the outages, according to a WTAJ report.
According to Taylor, the next steps are letting the floodwaters recede and assess any damage across the county.
The Altoona area should expect cooler, more fall-like weather in coming days, Curtis said.
Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.