Heavy Rains Flood Philadelphia Metro Area, Force Evacuations

Torrential downpours hammered South Jersey overnight, flooding highways, forcing the PATCO High Speed Line to halt suburban operations and triggering evacuations of residents along the Rancocas and Big Timber creeks.

The rains also downed trees and flooded roadways across the Delaware River, but Southeastern Pennsylvania appeared to have escaped the brunt of the storms, with the exception of an Acme in Flourtown, Montgomery County, where part of the roof collapsed. No injuries were reported.

More than four inches of rain has fallen at Philadelphia International Airport since midnight, said Valerie Meolo, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly. From four to six inches of rain have been reported in parts of Burlington County, she said.