Updated at 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021.
The Centre County Board of Commissioners approved a countywide declaration of disaster emergency because of localized flooding that followed heavy rains Wednesday into Thursday.
Commissioners issued the declaration during an emergency session on Thursday afternoon.
“The heavy rains and flooding has endangered the health, safety and welfare of a substantial number of persons residing in Centre County and threatens to create problems greater in scope than Centre County may be able to resolve,” the declaration states.
It directs Centre County Emergency Management Coordinator Jeffrey Wharran “to coordinate the activities of the emergency response, to take all appropriate action needed to alleviate the effects of this disaster, to aid in the restoration of essential public services, and to take any other emergency response action deemed necessary to respond to this disaster emergency.”
A declaration of disaster emergency can allow the county to seek state or federal assistance if needed and to enact emergency response plans.
Penns Valley was hard hit by the rain, with more than 5 inches recorded in some areas, according to the National Weather Service. Creeks in the area continued to rise after the rain subsided, flooding into streets and impacting homes.
Elk Creek overflowed by Thursday morning, causing road closures. The water level reached the the underside of a bridge on Route 45 in Millheim, causing the road to be closed between Route 445 (North Street) near Madisonburg and Route 235 near Hartleton in Union County until at 6:30 a.m. on Friday. PennDOT policy required the bridge to be inspected for potential damage before the road could be reopened.
Route 445 between Route 45 and Route 192 and between Route 192 and Route 64 was closed but has since reopened.
Aaronsburg recorded 5.42 inches of rain from the storm, while Poe Valley State Park had 5.28 inches and Spring Mills had 4.5 inches, according to the National Weather Service.
Elsewhere in the county, Bald Eagle Creek at the Beech Creek station was in the minor flood stage and reached 11.6 feet. It was expected to fall below flood stage late Thursday night
