By Maryclaire Dale | Associated Press
WASHINGTON CROSSING, Pa. – Emergency crews in suburban Philadelphia have launched an extensive search for a missing 9-month-old boy and his 2-year-old sister, who were swept away in a family car due to torrential rains that caused flooding on a roadway. Meanwhile, the East Coast deals with the aftermath of heavy rainfall, which has closed roads and contaminated the water supply in certain areas. On the other hand, the West and other regions of the country are experiencing scorching temperatures and poor air quality resulting from Canadian wildfires.
In eastern Pennsylvania, search efforts for Matilda Sheils, 2, and her brother Conrad Sheils, 9 months old, intensified on Monday. It is described as a “massive undertaking,” involving 100 search crew members and various drones dispatched along a creek that empties into the Delaware River. The siblings, part of a South Carolina family visiting relatives and friends, were caught in a flash flood on Saturday when their family attempted to escape the raging floodwaters. The father and his 4-year-old son managed to reach safety, but the mother, grandmother, and two younger children were swept away.
Katie Seley, 32, the mother of the missing children, tragically lost her life in the flood. While the grandmother survived, the names of the other victims have yet to be released, according to Upper Makefield Police.
Monsignor Michael Picard of St. Andrew Roman Catholic Church, where the family attends, expressed his condolences and shared that he had spoken with the grandparents. The grandfather attended morning Mass on Monday, where the family was included in prayers.
This devastating flash flood in Pennsylvania serves as a sobering reminder of the torrential rains that caused the loss of at least 25 lives in New Jersey when Hurricane Ida made its way through the state last year. The flooding resulted in abandoned vehicles on washed-out roads and inundated homes in low-lying areas.
Parts of the saturated Northeast began to dry out on Monday, following heavy weekend rainfall that resulted in flash flooding in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency on Sunday and planned to survey the affected areas on Monday. Although a confirmed tornado touched down in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, there were no injuries or significant property damage reported. In New Hampshire, where some roads collapsed, heavy rain led to the postponement of Sunday’s NASCAR race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Vermont has reported no immediate safety concerns following the historic flooding it experienced nearly a week ago, which dumped two months’ worth of rainfall in just two days. However, the Vermont National Guard received a request from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide water for nearly 8,000 people over a three-day period. As a result, the National Guard distributed water, and emergency personnel delivered 1,200 gallons of water to Copley Hospital in Morrisville after local water was deemed unsafe to drink due to the flooding.
Later on Monday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is expected to visit Vermont. The state’s Emergency Management agency indicated that swift-water rescue teams conducted six additional rescues overnight and are closely monitoring areas at risk for landslides. More rain is forecasted for Tuesday.
The strong storms on Sunday led to hundreds of flight cancellations in the New York City area, as well as numerous delays. In Suffolk County on Long Island, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul reported that 5 inches (13 centimeters) of rain fell within a two-hour span. The storms over the past week resulted in $50 million in damages throughout the state. In North Carolina, floodwaters caused the death of a 49-year-old woman after her car was swept off a road in Alexander County late on Saturday. However, a man who was also in the car was rescued.
Furthermore, extensive areas in the northern United States woke up to unhealthy air quality on Monday morning or experienced it by midafternoon, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow.gov Smoke and Fire map. Fine particle pollution from the wildfires in Canada has led to red zone air quality, indicating it is unhealthy for everyone. These tiny particles, known as PM2.5, can penetrate deep into the lungs and cause short-term issues such as coughing and itchy eyes. Over time, they can also have adverse effects on the lungs and heart. The EPA recommends limiting outdoor activities and keeping them brief when the air quality index exceeds 150 on the agency’s map. On Monday afternoon, several cities and regions, including Lincoln, Nebraska; Peoria, Illinois; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Huntsville, Alabama; Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tennessee; Greensboro, North Carolina; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Syracuse and Utica, New York, reached that threshold.
Advisories caution sensitive groups, such as individuals with heart or lung disease, older adults, children, and pregnant women, to consider remaining indoors. Elsewhere in the U.S., thousands of people in Kansas and Missouri were left without power as a result of storms that swept through the area over the weekend. Evergy, Kansas’ largest electric power provider, estimated that it could take days to restore service to all affected customers. This timeline coincides with more storms and oppressive heat expected in the region early this week, according to the National Weather Service.
In the western part of the country, Death Valley in California experienced temperatures as high as 128 degrees Fahrenheit (53.33 degrees Celsius) on Sunday at Furnace Creek, as reported by the National Weather Service. Additionally, Reno, Nevada, set a record high of 108 degrees on Sunday, tying the all-time high from July 10 and 11 of 2002 and July 5, 2007.
Contributors to this report: Ron Todt in Philadelphia; David Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Sarah Brumfield in Silver Spring, Maryland; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine; Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada; and Leah Willingham in Charleston, West Virginia.
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