Doug Staffelbach said Edgmont Avenue was closed between Upland and Forrestview after hail blocked the road in Parkside as the Thursday storm moved across Delaware County, a disruption that came alongside nationwide flight cancellations. The storm entered from the west about 2 p.m. and brought heavy rain, lightning and hail.
Parkside and Brookhaven
The most immediate problems were vehicles stranded in quickly rising water and cars stuck on hail. Emergency radio traffic showed no injuries, and dispatches for fire stations ramped up after 2:30 before subsiding with the water by 3 p.m.
Timothy Habich said, "We experienced significant side street flooding because storm drains became clogged with leaves and hail. Police personnel and highway department personnel were very busy getting the drains cleared." He also said, "Some buses were delayed arriving at The Christian Academy due to flooding outside their main entrance."
Trimble Blvd and Swiftwater Lane
Habich said, "Our highway department was forced to move large amounts of hail from the roadway with a backhoe. The hail was several feet deep at Trimble Blvd and Swiftwater Lane." He added, "I managed to get of the hail piled up in the road on Trimble Blvd." PennDOT worked to get Edgmont Avenue reopened, while other spots in Delaware County stayed closed until the hail melted or was picked up.
In Brookhaven, a tree on the wooded property of the Brookhaven Swim Club was struck by lightning, caught fire and drew a Brookhaven Fire Department response to evaluate. Habich also said, "We also had a tree on the wooded property of the Brookhaven Swim Club get struck by lightning. The tree caught fire following the strike, and the Brookhaven Fire Department responded to evaluate."
Delaware County Thursday storm
A National Weather Service tornado watch had been set to run until 7 p.m. but was canceled by 4 p.m., while a flash flood warning remained in effect until 6:45 p.m. The weather service expected rain at times through Thursday night and into Friday, with temperatures dropping to the low 40s by daybreak Friday.
At 4:30 p.m., Philadelphia International Airport recorded 0.51 inch of precipitation. MesoWest listed 0.95 inch at an Upper Chichester spotter and 0.92 inch at Swarthmore, showing the storm was not uniform across the county.
For drivers and bus riders, the immediate issue was not the storm’s arrival but the roads it shut and the drains it overwhelmed. With hail still being cleared and flood water still under warning, the practical next step was to avoid closed stretches and expect delays where runoff and hail had already piled up.
