A slow-moving storm rolled into Delaware County from the west about 2 p.m. Thursday, and within an hour it was turning roads into holding ponds, dropping hail across neighborhoods and stranding vehicles in rising water. By late afternoon, the worst of the water was easing, but not before crews had already been sent racing from one problem to the next.
The day’s disruption was broad enough to snarl transportation without producing reported injuries. Emergency radio traffic showed no one was hurt, even as dispatches for fire stations surged after 2:30 p.m. and then fell back with the water after 3 p.m. A National Weather Service tornado watch that had been set to run until 7 p.m. was canceled by 4 p.m., though a flash flood warning stayed up until 6:45 p.m.
Timothy Habich said the storm hit hardest in the western half of the county, where responders were dealing with vehicles trapped in fast-rising water and others stuck on hail. He said some of the rescues came from flooded streets in areas west of the county’s center. In Parkside, police posted a photo showing a pickup truck caught in hail, and Edgmont Avenue was closed between Upland and Forrestview because the buildup blocked the road.
Habich said Brookhaven crews spent part of the afternoon clearing the aftermath with a backhoe after hail piled up several feet deep at Trimble Blvd and Swiftwater Lane. He said storm drains in Brookhaven clogged with leaves and hail, creating side street flooding, and that buses were delayed arriving at The Christian Academy because water had collected outside the main entrance. PennDOT was working to reopen Edgmont Avenue as the storm’s grip on the roads loosened.
There was one more problem that fit the pattern of a storm that moved slowly enough to linger over separate pockets of the county. A tree on the wooded property of the Brookhaven Swim Club was struck by lightning and caught fire, and the Brookhaven Fire Department was called to evaluate it. By 4:30 p.m., the rainfall totals were already uneven across the area, with 0.51 inch reported at Philadelphia International Airport, 0.95 inch at an Upper Chichester spotter and 0.92 inch in Swarthmore.
The storm was not over when the worst of the rescues ended. Rain was expected at times through the night and into Friday, keeping cleanup crews on watch and leaving open the question of how much more runoff the county’s drenched roads and drains could handle. For Thursday, though, the count that mattered most was simpler: plenty of damage, no injuries, and enough hail and water to shut down roads, delay buses and pull responders into repeated calls across Delaware County.
