Shelters Open In Coatesville Schools As Chester County Is Deluged

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — People are walking across rooftops in Coatesville as water rises nearly to their attics and schools are functioning as shelters for displaced families.

Coatesville Area School District Superintendent Tomás Hanna told the community all District schools and offices would be closed on Thursday. "Our community has been devastated by flooding, and some of our students have faced the tragedy of having to be evacuated from their homes."

The Red Cross is using Coatesville Senior High School and Intermediate High School as a shelter for displaced families, Hanna said.

"We are very pleased to be able to support them. Our prayers are with our students, families and staff who have been impacted by this flooding. If students have not been displaced or impacted by flooding, they should work tomorrow on the packets sent home by their teachers, or can access information and resources via Canvas."

He said the District will give an update tomorrow about plans for school on Friday, along with updates about the impact of the storm on our community.

Fire and rescue crews worked late Wednesday and into the morning evacuating residents from their homes.

Flooding on Route 82 northbound at Lincoln Highway closed all lanes late Wednesday night.

PennDOT reported debris on Route 82 in both directions between Union Road and Cedar Knoll Road and at Reeceville Road. All lanes were closed at 11 p.m. Wednesday.

PECO reported 194 outages around Chester County on Thursday morning — less than 5 percent of customers — but said more reports were coming in. PECO alerted residents not to move trees or debris because of the danger. "Do not touch or move downed wires and consider all downed wires as energized and extremely dangerous. Due to an increase in outage reports, the outage map may be slow to provide the latest updates," PECO's message said.

School and Government Services Closures

West Chester University canceled all in-person classes for Thursday. Chester County Government offices, facilities, and courts are also closed. School districts across Chester County are closed.

Other parts of Chester County are seeing serious flooding as the National Weather Service warns creeks and rivers will be rising throughout the day. French Creek and Brandywine Creek are among those expected to keep rising all day.

Updates on flooding and road closures in other areas of Chester County will follow this report.

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