Flooding hits parts of York County

Areas of York County were hit with flooding Thursday evening.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for central York County just before 4 p.m. until 6 p.m., and the existing flood watch continued until Friday morning.

This applied mostly to the area around York City and to the east of it, the weather service said. Watches mean the conditions are right for the weather event to happen, while warnings mean the event actually is happening.

​Flooding:  About 6 p.m., there were nearly 10 reported active traffic incidents throughout the county. At least two instances of a vehicle being stuck in water were reported by York County 911 dispatches. One was in Manchester Township on North George Street, and the other was in West Manchester Township on Loucks Road.

The York City Fire Department responded for a water rescue near Harrisburg Area Community College's York Campus about 4 p.m., according to Chief David Michaels.

Michaels said a van was stuck in standing water on Pennsylvania Avenue, but the people in the vehicle had gotten out. He said typical water rescues require them to either use a ladder or rope to reach those stuck in their vehicles.

Fortunately for the drivers, the water receded enough for firefighters to push the vehicle to the side of the road for a tow truck to come pick it up, he said.

The chief said that even though it looked like the storm had passed, the department was ready for the remainder of the night, should more rain come. He said their fire engines come equipped with water rescue equipment, such as helmets, flotation devices and ropes.

Prep: Michaels said if another storm passes through it could combine with the water already on the ground and cause additional flooding.

“Just don't drive through standing water,” Michaels warned.

He said what drivers might assume is not much water could potentially cause damage and stall a vehicle.

“The best thing we can tell you is try to avoid those areas,” he said. “These can come up quickly and catch us off guard at times... just use caution.”

About 5 p.m., Northern York County Regional Police tweeted that Susquehanna Trail south of East Canal Road was closed because of flooding.

Additionally, the weather caused a large tree to fall on a home in the 3700 block of Bear Road in Manchester Township.

— Reach Sean Cotter atscotter@yorkdispatch.com or on Twitter at@SPCotterYD.

— Reach Christopher Dornblaser at cdornblaser@yorkdispatch.com or on Twitter at @YDDornblaser.