5 dead; 2 toddlers missing after flash flooding in Washington Crossing, Pa.
UPPER MAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) -- Five people are dead after officials responded to flooded roadways with cars stuck Saturday evening with officials still searching for two others, a 9-month-old boy and his 2-year-old sister.
The mother of the two missing children is among the five who lost their lives in the flood. She and her children are from South Carolina and were headed to a family barbecue when they were caught in the flooding. Her husband and a 4-year-old son were able to escape the flood, but the mother, her children and a grandmother were overtaken by the waters.
"In my 44 years, I've never seen anything like it," Upper Makefield Fire Chief Tim Brewer said earlier in the day. "When the water came up, it came up very swiftly. We do not think that anybody drove into it, that they were actively on that road when it happened."
During an afternoon press conference attended by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. John Fetterman, Brewer pledged "Our commitment to finding the two children will still be unwavering as we do all we can to bring them home to their loved ones.
"We cannot even begin to imagine what the family is going through with two beautiful children gone."
Gov. Shapiro urged unity in the moment of tragedy.
"This is a moment that calls on all of us to come together, to lift up Upper Makefield and the Bucks County community and that is exactly what we are doing.," Shapiro said.
Over 6 inches of rain in an hour caused the flash flooding according to Brewer. The fire department was dispatched in that area for a lightning strike and just by happenstance they found 11 cars.
Eight people were rescued from the cars and two from the creek,
Brewer said over 100 people went out Sunday in the hopes of finding those missing. Officials say they are not releasing any names of the victims yet, but their search and rescue efforts will continue tonight.
"We are treating this as a rescue but we are fairly certain we are in a recovery mode at this time," Brewer said.
Two of the victims discovered Saturday died were women and one was a man.
CBS News Philadelphia was told they were all adults found outside their car and the water level was about five feet above ground.
The flash flooding happened just before 7 p.m. near Washington Crossing Road and Wrightstown Road.
One man said his wife was driving when all of a sudden the road filled with water and as people behind her tried to turn around, their car flipped over.
We came across several cars that were left stranded, some flipped over, trees were down and part of Washington Crossing Road in Upper Makefield Township was broken away.
Authorities say multiple marine units were sent out for a search and rescue operation after reports of cars stuck on flooded roadways.
Multiple roads in both Upper and Lower Makefield Township are closed. We're told several roads broke apart.
• Route 32 (River Road) Woodside Road to Taylorsville Road in Upper Makefield and Lower Makefield townships;
• Route 532 (Washington Crossing Road) between Dolington Road and Taylorsville Road in Upper Makefield Township; and
• Taylorsville Road between Route 532 (Washington Crossing Road) and Woodside Road in Upper Makefield and Lower Makefield townships.
