Flash floods in Bucks County, Pa. leave 5 dead, 2 kids missing

The East Coast is recovering from a weekend of heavy flooding that left several people dead and two young children missing in Bucks County, PA.

Officials said Saturday flash flooding caused by torrential rain around 5:30 p.m. killed five people and left a 2-year-old girl and her 9-month-old brother nowhere to be found. The children, visiting from South Carolina, were in a vehicle caught up in rushing water. The search for the missing toddler and infant continued Monday morning.

Their mother was among the weekend fatalities, according to NBC News in Philadelphia.

“This is going to be a massive undertaking,“ Upper Makefield Fire Chief Tim Brewer said Monday.

The Upper Makefield Township Police Department said rough weather conditions complicated search and rescue efforts over the weekend. That changed Monday.

“Due to more favorable weather conditions, we have been able to triple the assets deployed as our search areas widens,” officials said on Facebook Monday. “We have search teams on foot, teams in boats searching the Delaware River, we are utilizing drone teams, diver teams, and sonar technology. Every effort will be made to bring these beautiful children home to their families.”

Upper Makefield Township officers further clarified there’d been confusion about the missing children’s grandmother, who survived the flooding and is being treated in an area hospital. One man claiming to be a relative of the victims thanked authorities for their efforts to keep the public informed via Facebook.

Sunday storms caused the cancellation of at least 600 flights in the New York City area, including at least 350 at Newark Liberty International Airport. Tweed-New Haven Airport in Connecticut closed entirely.

Gov. Kathy Hochul warned New Yorkers to take flash flood warnings literally and limit travel while advisories are in effect.

“A flash flood doesn’t give you warning,” she said Sunday. “It comes literally in a flash.”

Five inches of rain hit Suffolk County in only two hours, according to the governor.

Flooding upstate left a 35-year-old Hudson Valley woman dead last week as she tried bringing her dog to safety.

Roads remain closed in Vermont, where storms making their way across the east coast are blamed for the death of a 63-year-old man who also died last week, according to USA Today.

With News Wire Services