PITTSBURGH -- Thursday brought a clear picture of the damage left behind by a slow-moving, severe thunderstorm that broke a rainfall record in the Pittsburgh area on Wednesday.

The storm left behind power outages, shut down roadways and flooded neighborhoods. Some homes were moved off foundations, cars were swept down roadways and three communities were in a state of emergency.

Weather Watch 4 meteorologist Demetrius Ivory reported that numerous funnel clouds were reported during the storm, but no tornado touchdowns have been confirmed.

According to the National Weather Service, a record rainfall of 2.92 inches was recorded in Pittsburgh. The previous record of 1.07 inches was set in 1973.

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Around the city of Pittsburgh, emergency officials said they took 29 calls about people trapped in cars surrounded by water. Crews had to perform 14 rescues and firefighters responded to 16 fires, two of them serious, most caused by lightning strikes. Only one minor leg injury was reported.

Route 8 (Washington Boulevard) is closed between Frankstown Avenue and Allegheny River Boulevard because of storm damage. PennDOT said "extensive" repairs are needed and the road will remain closed for some time. All other roads in the city are open again.

PennDOT also said power was out inside the Fort Pitt Tunnels. Drivers should use caution and turn on headlights.

Allegheny County reported that Lower Lougeay Road needs asphalt repairs and is closed in Wilkins Township and Penn Hills.

Mudslides were reported on other county roads, including Jacks Run Road in Ross Township, Stroschein Road in Monroeville, Camp Horne Road in Kilbuck Township, Wible Run Road in Shaler Township and Baldwin Road in the South Hills. All of those roads have since reopened.

Downtown, the county courthouse had "limited" water damage on the fifth floor and the county office building's sub-basement had approximately 2 inches of standing water because of backed-up storm sewers, according to spokesman Kevin Evanto.

Some people left their cars for safety and found that the vehicles were towed. Cars can be retrieved at McGann and Chester, 700 Hargrove St., near West Liberty Avenue at the south end of the Liberty Tunnels. The phone number is 412-381-9400.

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Thousands Still Without Power

As of 5 p.m. Thursday, Duquesne Light still had 1,200 customers without power because of Wednesday night's storms.

Power company officials said the hardest-hit areas were the eastern suburbs of Monroeville, Penn Hills, Churchill and Wilkinsburg, as well as the North and South Hills. Crews are working to restore power.

Allegheny Power -- which reported about 13,000 customers without power at the height of the storm -- said about 101 of them still had no electricity early Thursday evening. Most of the outages are in Jeannette, Derry and West Newton in Westmoreland County.

About 2,800 Penn Power customers were still without service at dawn on Thursday.

Downed power lines are affecting traffic signals in a number of communities. Drivers are reminded to treat any intersections without working lights as a four-way stop.

For the latest traffic updates and street closures visit WTAE's traffic pages.

Drivers should also be on the lookout for downed power lines across roadways.

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Overflow From Rain Brings Debris, Sewage To Rivers

Pittsburgh's rivers were a muddy mess following the storm front that moved through the area.

Channel 4 Action News' Amber Nicotra reported that while water levels were higher than normal, the main concern was the amount of debris floating in the water.

According to WTAE's news exchange partners at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, a spokesman for the Allegheny Sanitary Authority said the treatment plant was operating at capacity and couldn't handle the overflow caused by the heavy rains. Untreated sewage flowed into area waterways.

Other counties also suffered sewage problems because of the storms. In Jeanette in Westmoreland County, raw sewage flowed down one street and a number of pedestrians had to go to a decontamination tent to be washed off, Nicotra reported.

The Army Corps of Engineers is looking into whether the weather played a role in a crash involving a barge at the Braddock Locks and Dam on the Monongahela River.

A five-barge tow loaded with limestone cargo struck a lock at the dam while locking through around 1 a.m. Two barges broke loose from the tow after impact and hit two dam gates adjacent to the lock chambers. The facility was closed to navigation throughout the morning during the recovery operation but opened back for service shortly after 8 a.m.

In White Oak, the bridge connecting the Scarpone family's driveway to Jacks Run Road snapped off when Jacks Run Creek flooded, wiping away the bridge and a portion of their front yard.

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State Of Emergency In Wilkinsburg, Turtle Creek, Forest Hills

Some of the areas hit hardest by the storm front were Wilkinsburg and Turtle Creek.

In some cases the water rose so quickly that there was barely time for some to get to safety.

Flooded basements and power outages were two of the situations causing the most trouble.
Video: Storms Force Evacuations In Turtle Creek

Public works employees are making their way through the affected areas to assess the damage.

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