Rapid Thawing Causes Massive Flooding In East

Thousands of people were moved to high ground for much of Saturday at Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and hundreds more were urged to get out of communities on the Delaware and Ohio rivers to escape devastating flooding.

“We are bracing for a very dangerous weekend,” said John Comey, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

At least 30 deaths were blamed on the combination of cold, blizzard conditions and flooding since midweek from the Plains to the East Coast. Four people were missing.

Hundreds of roads and bridges were closed by high water, along with some water and sewage plants. Barges and pleasure boats broke from their moorings and drifted on the Ohio River and its upper tributaries.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge’s family fled the Governor’s Mansion in Harrisburg when water surrounded the home. Other evacuations were under way in the city Saturday evening.

In Trenton, N.J., the recently renovated Statehouse annex and its parking garage were flooded by waters overflowing from the Delaware River.

A burst of record warmth that contributed to the rapid snow melt and flooding in the East was squeezed off the continent by arctic temperatures.

At the heart of the frigid air mass, Saturday morning temperatures shocked even northern Minnesota, falling to 57 below zero at Tower and Embarrass. International Falls, which prides itself on its bitter weather, postponed some of its Icebox Days events because of the cold.

Fearful of a repeat of deadly 1972 floods, officials in Pennsylvania ordered the relocation of more than 100,000 people from flood-plain areas of Wilkes-Barre and surrounding communities.

Wilkes-Barre residents were given the all-clear to return home about 10 hours later, after the Susquehanna River crested about 1-1/2 feet below flood stage.

Elsewhere across Pennsylvania, water closed major roads in Harrisburg and submerged Pittsburgh’s Point State Park.

Pittsburgh police knocked on doors of the Three Rivers Plaza senior citizen apartment building early Saturday, rushing residents to pack and get out.

“Oh my heavens, I didn’t have time to think about what was happening,” said 85-year-old Edyth Murovich.