Pittsburgh Area Prepares for Snow-Related Flooding

Emergency management officials say the Pittsburgh region will face major flooding in the coming weeks as record-breaking amounts of snow begin to thaw.

Allegheny County Emergency Services Chief Bob Full said at a meeting in Sharpsburg on Friday that “the rivers are going to flood. It’s just a question of where.”

County officials have ordered 25,000 sandbags and 1,000 cots to serve people who may be displaced. They already have 65,000 sandbags, 1,000 cots and 100,000 ready-to-eat meals.

February was the snowiest month in Pittsburgh-area history. River towns south and east of the city are especially vulnerable to snowmelt coming downstream from the mountains.

Officials say there is more snow in those mountains than there was in 1996, during the region’s last major snow-related floods.