Politics & Government

Flooding Delays Lower Merion School Buses, Closes Roads and Rail Lines

A Flash Flood Warning for six counties is in place through late Thursday morning.

Floods from heavy rain forced road closures Wednesday night and Thursday morning in Lower Merion and the surrounding area, and the National Weather Service was maintaining a Flash Flood Warning through 11:15 a.m.

Before 6 a.m., the Lower Merion School District announced on its website: "Due to storm-related road closures in Lower Merion Township and Narberth, LMSD families should expect school bus delays this morning, 9/8. No bus routes have been cancelled and school facilities will open on time."

Merion Mercy Academy in Merion Station cancelled Thursday classes, the school announced on its website.

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In the early morning, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation reported via email bulletin the closures of more and more sections of the Schuylkill Expressway for weather-related reasons, as well as a crash between the Gladwyne and Belmont interchanges.

By 5:50 a.m., the agency reported, the eastbound expressway was closed for roughly 10 miles: from the Interstate 476 interchange through Girard Avenue in Philadelphia.

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The westbound expressway was closed between Montgomery and Girard Avenues, and the southbound Roosevelt Boulevard south of Fox Street closed "due to mudslide", according to a PennDOT email.

The NWS flood warning covered Montgomery, Delaware and western Philadelphia counties, as well as three counties in southern New Jersey.

"With saturated conditions, most of the rain is being converted to runoff," a 5 a.m. NWS bulletin read. "Small stream flooding is widespread, as is roadway and poor drainage flooding. This flooding will continue through the morning hours."

SEPTA's Paoli-Thorndale line in the Regional Rail system was reported to be back in service after a closure for debris cleanup Wednesday. However, by 6 a.m., four other Regional Rail lines were down because of flooding, according to septa.org, and about 7:30 a.m. it was announced that Cynwyd Line service was suspended, too.

6ABC's Katherine Scott reported via Twitter that Belmont Avenue was closed near the Schuylkill Expressway, while an account used by NBC-10 photographers reported a "huge mudslide" had caused the intersection of Mill Creek Road and Conshohocken State Road in Gladwyne to be "closed and detoured."


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