Governor Orders PEMA To Activate Emergency Operations Center – WGAL Lancaster

• Gov. Ed Rendell has ordered the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to activate its Emergency Operations Center so state agencies can assist local governments and residents as they deal with the heavy rainfall in many parts of the state.
• Rendell has also directed the Pennsylvania National Guard to be on stand-by status for the central and eastern parts of the state, where rain is forecast to be heaviest.
• Flooding has put Lancaster County under a state of emergency. The primary reason for the state of emergency is the difficulty of travel in the county. While drivers are urged to be cautious there is no ban on travel within the county.
• Lancaster County Emergency Services said they received more than 100 weather-related calls before noon.
• Due to road conditions and flooding, numerous school districts are dismissing early. You can find a complete list of them here.
• Millersville University has sent multiple text alerts to students and staff warning them about flooding. The university said it had more than 4 inches of rain before noon.
• All Amtrak trains in the area are operating on up to an hour’s delay. The rain is also causing delays on railways in the Susquehanna Valley. Amtrak says all of its trips are running behind, some as late as an hour or more. No trains are stuck at this time, but they are going very slowly, and may even be stopped, waiting for the tracks ahead to be cleared. Passengers are encouraged to call 1-800-USA-RAIL, or you can check the website here.
• Flooding has shut down the Lancaster Library for the day.
• In Manheim Township, police say they’re seeing a problem with people driving around barricades all over the place, then getting stuck. Police ask drivers to not drive around barricades. Many roads are flooded and barricades are there to protect motorists.
• A woman driving on North Marshall Street in Lancaster climbed out onto the roof of her SUV after she drove into deep water. Firefighters used a ladder truck to rescue her.

Much of Pennsylvania is under a flood watch. You can get a county-by-county rundown of weather warnings that are currently in effect on this web page.In the Susquehanna Valley, much of the rain seemed to be centered on Lancaster County, where dozens of calls from stranded drivers poured in to 911 Thursday morning.”It’s crazy … as soon as I hit that blotch of water (my car) just shut down,” said a driver iwho was trying to get a jumpstart for his disabled Saturn — which did not start again.Police countywide are repeatedly warning motorists to avoid driving through standing water and to never drive around barricades that may be blocking an immersed roadway.WGAL.com visitors are providing weather updates for their locations in our live weather chat here. You can join as well and tell us what conditions are like near you.

U Local Severe Weather Pictures

To send us pictures or videos, join u local here. Then click “photos” and “add photos.” You can also send video through u local.Please note that as you click through the slideshow below, you may start to see older images. The date and time images were submitted is noted in the upper right hand corner. To watch viewer videos, click the video tab on the upper right.

Traffic Cameras, Traffic Map

PennDOT’s Susquehanna Valley traffic cameras are a great way to get a current look at road and weather conditions. WGAL.com has connected to nearly all of them in the interactive map at the bottom of this page. If you are looking for traffic hotline numbers or air and rail travel information, click here. If you are looking for traffic updates on crashes and delays, use this map.To get a picture of real-time traffic conditions on dozens of PennDOT cameras throughout the Susquehanna Valley, mouse over any of the thumbtacks in the interactive map below. Click on the small image to pop up a larger picture. You can also find a list of current traffic incidents throughout the Susquehanna Valley here.Some cameras may be temporarily unavailable. WGAL.com does not have control of them. They are maintained and monitored by PennDOT.If you’d like to access the cameras via a larger interactive map, just click the “enlarge” button on the right below.

Traffic Flow, Incidents

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