Update at 7 a.m. Thursday: More:York County flooding: Susquehanna River levels rising, more rain tomorrow Updated at 9 p.m. Wednesday: The National Weather Service extended the flash flood warning for York County until 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. Updated at 5:33 p.m. Wednesday: The National Weather Service issued an alert around 5:30 p.m. extending the flash flood warning for York County and other areas in central Pennsylvania until 9:30 p.m. Reported earlier: As York County was soaked with rain for a fifth day in a row, reports came in of flooded streets, closed roads, water rescues, flooded basements, small waterways spilling over their banks and a rising Susquehanna River. Two water rescues were reported early Wednesday: a woman and child were stranded in a car at Fissels Church and Pleasant Valley roads in Glen Rock; and a Toyota Camry got stuck at Days Mill and Brillhart Station roads in York Township near Stump Park. Residents said on social media that Glen Rock was hit hard Tuesday night, when there was about 3 feet of water flooding Hanover Street. Watch, flash flooding in Glen Rock (story continues below): There were multiple calls for water rising in basements, especially in York City, Mount Wolf and Springettsbury Township. More:Hersheypark closed again due to flooding "York has been one of the harder hit areas," said Charles Ross, a meteorologist at National Weather Service in State College. Lt. Col. Tom Burrell of the state Fish and Boat Commission urged people to avoid water ways the next few days. “These are higher levels than we’ve seen in awhile with all the rain we have gotten over the past few days,” Burrell said. “But the majority of the streams are expected to crest by Friday so then we’ll start to see things return to normal.” “Our biggest advice for people is to not even try to get on their favorite water ways right now. We have people who will want to try white water rafting in this stuff or take out their kayaks, but it isn’t safe. You don’t know if the water you would be on is actually supposed to be there or just from flooding. In that instance you won’t know what’s underneath you — fences, pipes — it’s a hazard.” Susquehanna River levels rising Keith Swartz, a member of Wrightsville's Susquehanna Yacht Club, said Wednesday morning, “right now, it’s more of a debris issue. The river levels are a little unusual, but the debris buildup is really what can cause problems and drag the boats down." Workers at Lake Clark marina were also clearing debris and preparing to move the boats if needed. Tim Slow, a worker at the marina said, the debris can pull boats down the river. “This is the most junk I’ve ever seen," said Murphey, the yacht club groundskeeper. The Susquehanna River is expected to spill over its bank. That risk remains in effect at least through Thursday, though the National Weather Service has repeatedly extended watches and warnings since Saturday when consecutive days of heavy downpours began. "We're going to see a big rise on the Susquehanna River today," Ross said. "It's expected to pass 46 feet today and has gone up almost 12 feet since Sunday." Around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the Susquehanna River at Marietta, Harrisburg, Bloomsburg, Danville and Sunbury; and for the West Branch Susquehanna at Muncy, Montgomery, Watsontown, West Milton and Lewisburg. More:How to monitor York County road closures, Pennsylvania flooding Around York County The National Weather Service said there are several reports of flooding in York County, along with several road closures. Mark Walters, a spokesman for York County, said Wednesday morning, "we're not in too bad of a spot right now." "I'd say we're looking better now than we were at this time yesterday," he said. Cody Santiago, emergency manager for the City of York, said “we’re in a monitoring phase.” "Luckily, right now, this is all manageable,” Santiago said. “There are no immediate or imminent threats to anything right now." He’s received notification that sewage has backed up into the basements of homes on the 400 block of East Boundary Avenue. Crews, he said, are working on the issue. Santiago urged people to contact someone from the city, such as the Department of Public Works, or call 911 if they have sewage backing up into their basement. He also asked people to not let their children play or go in the storm water, which isn’t filtered or clean. Walters said people should be careful if they pull up to water — and turn around. He said it's never a good idea to risk it. Flood warning, weather outlook York County remains under a flood warning, meaning flooding is imminent, according to the National Weather Service. Many small waterways in York County and throughout the region are already spilling over their banks. Yellow Breeches, for example, is a foot above flood stage. More:Hersheypark closed again due to flooding Showers will be intermittent until about 8 a.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. Even after the rain stops, the flood risk will remain high. "It looks like we have one more day of this," Ross said. "The threat continues with more heavy rain expected." There will be a brief reprieve until Friday afternoon when more thunderstorms are predicted. Dry air moves in for the weekend, with sunshine and highs in the low 80s. "The weekend will be a welcome break," Ross said. Rain is expected to return early next week. Staff writer Dylan Segelbaum contributed to this report.<doc-sep>Heavy rains will continue in York and surrounding counties through Wednesday, July 25, according to local weather services. AccuWeather meteorologist Jake Sojda added that it could persist through Thursday morning. Rain will be fairly consistent, with a few hours' break between each downpour, he said, and it will keep piling up, causing "significant flooding concerns" by Wednesday. "Fortunately, the break in downpours has allowed us to catch breaks in water levels rising," county spokesman Mark Walters said Tuesday morning. The county's Office of Emergency Management activated its Emergency Operations Center to keep watch on water levels, roads and other concerns, Walters said. It's functioning at level 3 — meaning it requires full staff — which Walters said is standard for monitoring conditions. In more severe cases, the office would call for volunteers, he said. Walters said the county saw a few minor evacuations because of the weather, including three from a mobile home park in Fairview Township along Yellow Breeches Creek and one in Dover for a medical condition. According to Met-Ed, 920 customers in the county had power outages as of approximately 11:30 a.m. Tuesday — 471 in York City. York County is under a flash flood watch through Wednesday evening, according to the National Weather Service. The weather service said Tuesday morning that up to 8 inches has fallen in York County and parts of Lancaster, Dauphin and Cumberland counties over the past few days, with another 1 to 3 inches expected by early afternoon. It said urban areas and small streams were especially at risk. More:York County under flood warning through Monday evening More:Flash flood watch in effect for York County High-risk areas: The areas getting the heaviest rainfall run through the center third of York County, excluding the southeastern and western areas, and extend through Lancaster, Lebanon and parts of Dauphin counties, continuing north, said National Weather Service meteorologist Michael Colbert. Sojda described the target region as a bullseye, covering northern Virginia through central Maryland and the Capital Region near Washington, D.C., as well as southcentral and much of eastern Pennsylvania up through the Poconos. Forecasts predict 6 to 10 inches of rain in this region through Thursday morning — with some areas seeing a weeklong total of more than a foot, Sojda said. "York County is definitely vulnerable to being on the high side of that," he said of the expected inch count. Sojda warns residents living in low-lying areas or near streams and creeks to keep an eye on local emergency management updates from social media to know when water levels are rising and it's necessary to get to higher ground. Low pressure: The rain is coming from an upper-level area of low pressure to the west, according to Colbert. On the east side of it, a southerly flow over Pennsylvania has brought up a lot of humidity from the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean and other tropical regions, he said. Thunderstorms began Saturday, and now the system is locked into place, he said. Sojda said the low-pressure area is sitting over the southeastern part of the country, pulling moisture up from those areas and feeding into the northeastern U.S., "pushed up against higher terrain and wringing it all out." Though it's more typical for a spring or fall pattern, Colbert said, "things just happen sometimes." What's more atypical is that the pattern in prolonged, Sojda said. Having this amount of rain for several days is what's causing problems, he said. Water on the rise: Colbert said the region can expect ongoing flood warnings, as water from small creeks flows downstream to rivers, making water levels rise. Areas to watch for in the county are along the Codorus and Conewago creeks — tributaries of the Susquehanna River — but Colbert said they are not in any danger of flooding yet. On Tuesday, the weather service reported that the Codorus was "already above flood stage," and additional rapid rises were expected on the Conowingo and Little Conowingo creeks, according to a news release. Farther north, the Swatara Creek, which runs through Hershey and Middletown, is in a minor stage of flooding, Colbert said. Sojda said the Susquehanna River might reach the minor flood stage by Wednesday or Thursday. He said most of the streams and creeks flowing into the river would also break banks by then. Avoid driving: Colbert and Sojda both say the best way to stay safe is to avoid driving through flooded streets. Visibility is limited in those situations, they explained. While drivers might think a road looks safe, they cannot tell how fast water might be flowing under the surface, Sojda said. Colbert added that areas of the road surface could dip down, so standing water could be a lot deeper than it appears. "It's still raining and we cannot stress this strongly enough: do not cross flooded roads!" the York County Planning Commission posted on its Facebook page Tuesday morning. "Even if you're sure that your vehicle can handle the depth, there's no guarantee the road surface is in place below the water," the post read, citing a collapsed bridge where Watertank Road crosses the the Codorus Creek, near Glenville. Walters reminded county residents that 6 inches of fast-moving water can knock over and carry away an adult, 12 inches can carry away a small car and 18-24 inches can carry away an SUV, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He said it's best just to avoid driving through affected areas, especially near bodies of water such as the Codorus Creek and Susquhanna River, which are prone to flooding.<doc-sep>Syracuse, N.Y. -- The National Weather Service has issued flood alerts for a chunk of Upstate New York, including Central New York, the Southern Tier and eastern New York. Up to 4 inches of rain has already fallen in eastern Sullivan County, the weather service said, and this is only the first day of what's forecast to be a very rainy week. That has prompted the most severe alert, a flash flood warning, for Monticello and surrounding areas. "Additional rainfall of 1 to 2 inches combined with rainfall earlier today will lead to flash flooding of creeks and streams," the warning said. The warning expires at 5:30 p.m. A flash flood watch is in effect until Wednesday night in Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Schuyler, Steuben, Sullivan, Tioga and Tompkins counties. A watch means that conditions are right for flash flooding, but it hasn't happened yet. "Recent showers and thunderstorms are beginning to saturate the soils in the watch area," the weather service said. "Through Wednesday, showers and thunderstorms with very heavy rainfall rates are likely." The weather service is most concerned about the "training" of thunderstorms, when repeated storms pass over the same area like train cars rumbling over the same spot. "Additional rainfall due to training of showers and thunderstorms could result in several inches of rain, which would lead to flash flooding," the weather service said. Flash flooding occurs when the ground can't absorb heavy rainfall, and water rushes into valleys and other low-lying areas, or overwhelms creeks and streams. "Flash flooding is a very dangerous situation," the weather service said. In the Capital Region and Upper Hudson Valley, a number of flood advisories are in place. A flood advisory means that "river or stream flows are elevated, or ponding of water in urban or other areas is occurring or is imminent," the weather service said. The advisories are in place for Albany, Saratoga, Fulton, Sullivan, Ulster, Schenectady and Hamilton counties. Days of heavy rain in the Mid-Atlantic has brought flash #flooding to some towns, including in Palenville, New York: https://t.co/IylxpMwZ3L 🎥: hypnoabel/Instagram pic.twitter.com/I1qsX792sc — WeatherOptics (@weatheroptics) July 23, 2018 Contact Glenn Coin: Email | Twitter | Google + | (315) 470-3251<doc-sep>
Parts of Dauphin, Lebanon and Schuylkill counties are among the areas hardest hit currently by flooding caused by the storms streaming through central Pennsylvania. One of the spots hardest hit so far appears to be the Pine Grove area of Schuylkill County, where a shelter has opened at Pine Grove Area High School. The highest threat for flash flooding is in south-central Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency says. The threat also includes north-central and eastern parts of the state, with at least another 1-2 inches forecast. With more rain expected this week, much of central Pennsylvania is under a flash flood watch until Wednesday, the National Weather Service said. Flooding has closed Hersheypark, ZooAmerica and Knoebel's. There could also be damaging wind gusts in storms today in south-central Pa. 24-72 HR Hazard Overview: 🌧️🌊 •Significant #flashflood threat ongoing through late Wed o Highest threat in SCPA o Threat includes NCPA & EasternPA •Isolated damaging wind gusts possible in storms today SCPA 🌬️ •Mild to warm and muggy air continues all week 💦 pic.twitter.com/PPY5Cj9Mub — Ready PA (@ReadyPA) July 23, 2018 A flood warning is in effect through 7:45 p.m. Monday for eastern Dauphin County, Lebanon County, central York County, northwestern Lancaster County and western Schuylkill County. The Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center says that after 2 to 7 inches of rain over the weekend, another 3 to 5 inches could fall over the next three days, which could cause "potentially dangerous, even life-threatening" flooding. Looks like a difficult couple of days on the Swatara Creek in Pennsylvania: Posted by US National Weather Service Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center on Monday, July 23, 2018 There are numerous road closures in low-lying areas, and a water main broke and a sinkhole opened Monday on Market Street in Upper Allen Township. PennDOT anticipates the number of road closures and possible damage to increase over the next two days with the weather forecast, said spokeswoman Fritzi Schreffler. "Across the county there are numerous roads closed - the comment was that anything that crosses the Swatara Creek is flooded," she said. Spokesman Greg Penny said later Monday that no problems currently exist on any of the region's interstates or major highways. "We have some of our low volume roads closed throughout our eight county district, but they are situations in which the streams rise and overflow the road and then subside," Penny said. "Our biggest concern is in Lebanon County with roads that cross over the Swatara Creek. As the Swatara Creek continues to rise and swell, bridges will be closed over the creek, and we may sustain road and bridge damage. We're monitoring now and through the night." Some central Pennsylvania creeks are expected to crest above or approach flood stages later this week, the National Weather Service says. Is your local stream at flood level? The Dauphin County Commissioners warned residents living in flood-prone areas to monitor weather conditions and prepare for more flooding over the next three days. County Commissioner Mike Pries urged residents along the Swatara Creek in particular to be ready for flash flooding in the coming days. A flood warning has been issued so far for the Swatara Creek at Harpers Tavern in Lebanon County, and in Dauphin County at Hershey and Middletown. The stream is above flood stage at Hershey and Harpers. A flash-flood watch is in effect throughout central Pennsylvania until Wednesday night, the National Weather Service says. The flash flood watch covers Cumberland, Dauphin, Lebanon, Perry, York and Adams counties in the Harrisburg area. The watch also includes Columbia, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, Centre, Clinton, Lycoming and Union counties. The heavy rains over the past two days have produced the flooding in central Pennsylvania today. "You've had two days in a row of some very heavy rainfall," said Dave Samuhel, a meteorologist with AccuWeather. "It's led to a lot of problems." It's not just the volume of rain, Samuhel said. The rain fell very rapidly across central Pennsylvania over the past two days. "We're quickly piling up two or three inches of rain in places," Samuhel said. "The ground is saturated. There's nowhere for it to go. And that's what's really led to some of the major problems we've seen." The Pa. Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) said it's working with its county partners to monitor conditions in areas that are seeing or might see flooding.