The Newtown area faced disruption on Monday morning due to flooding with the Neshaminy Creek and several smaller waterways overflowing their banks starting in the pre-dawn hours.
The creek reached the bridge along Second Street Pike in Wrightstown Township and was notably high at Tyler State Park. Trees and branches streamed by in the fast-moving water.
Credit: Tom Sofield/NewtownPANow.com
Downed limbs and trees along Newtown-area roadways caused minor power outages in Newtown Township.
The Council Rock School District reported delays in student transportation, leading to students delays.
Sol Feinstone Elementary School in Upper Makefield Township was closed due to downed trees and power lines.
Newtown Township police announced the closure of Sackettsford Road between Old Jacksonville Road and Swamp Road, and Linton Hill Road from Stoopville Road to Waterford Place due to flooding. Buck Road was also closed between Mill Pond Road and Stoneyford Road.
Swamp Road at Pennswood Drive remained open, but several inches of water flowed across it from a detention basin in the Nob Hill Development.
Upper Makefield Township police reported closures due to flooding, including Eagle Road at Stoneybrook Road, and parts of Stoneybrook, River, Brownsburg East, Taylorsville, and River roads.
Closures resulted from downed trees and wires on River Road, Lurgan Road, Brownsburg Road West, and Windy Bush Road.
Upper Makefield Township police issued a warning on Facebook: “Please do NOT go around the road closed signs. No matter what excuse you think you have to do so, it will not matter if you get hurt, stuck, or a ticket.”
The National Weather Service indicated that 2 to 5 inches of rain had fallen, leading to a Flood Warning.
The U.S. Geological Survey gage showed the Neshaminy Creek in flood stage at nearly 18 feet in Wrightstown Township, the highest level in over a year.
Forecasters expected the rain to taper off later in the morning.
