Officials continued their search for two missing children on Sunday, July 16, after deadly flash flooding hit Pennsylvania, killing at least five people.
In a press conference on Sunday afternoon, officials in Upper Makefield Township reported that its departments recovered the bodies of five people and were working with the Bucks County Coroner’s Office to contact their families. Two children remained missing, both from Charleston, South Carolina, who were visiting the area with family. According to police, the family was on their way to a barbecue when their vehicles got stuck in floodwaters on Rt 532.
The father managed to get out of his car, and helped his four-year-old son to safety. However, as both grandmother and mother attempted to reach the two other children, aged 2 years old and 9 months old, all four were swept away.
“Unbelievably,” the Upper Makefield Township Police Department said, the grandmother survived and was treated at a local hospital. The mother, however, was one of the five deceased victims recovered by officials.
“We cannot even begin to imagine what this family is going through, but they know we are here to help them through this process and to bring their beautiful children home,” the department wrote on Facebook.
Portions of Rt 532 remained closed on Sunday as officials looked for the missing children. The department posted video showing the flooding conditions on Rt 532 “just east of Meadowview Drive and before Stonebridge Crossing Road.”
“This has been unbelievably devastating to all the families involved, all of our first responders, and to our community as a whole,” the department said. “We ask once again that you keep all those affected by this tragedy in your thoughts and prayers. And we ask that you hug your loved ones a little tighter this evening.” Credit: Upper Makefield Township Police Department via Storyful
