Five people are dead after heavy rain caused flooding up to five feet tall in Pennsylvania, and authorities continued their search Monday for a baby boy and his toddler sister who are feared lost after their mother died in the natural disaster.
The search for 9-month-old Conrad Sheils and 2-year-old Matilda Sheils along a creek that drains into the Delaware River has included 100 people, drones, and cadaver dogs, authorities told the Associated Press. The children are from Charleston, South Carolina, and were driving in eastern Pennsylvania on Saturday when their car got caught up in flash flooding.
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Jim Sheils, the children's father, grabbed their 4-year-old son, while their mother, Katie Seley, and a grandmother grabbed the other children, Upper Makefield Township Fire Chief Tim Brewer said. Sheils and his 4-year-old son made it to safety, but Seley and the grandmother were swept away by the flood. The grandmother survived, but Seley did not.
Officials said the other victims were Enzo Depiero, 78, and Linda Depiero, 74; Yuko Love, 64; and Susan Barnhart, 53. At least ten other people had to be rescued from the flooding in the area about a 30-minute drive from Philadelphia, according to CBS News.
As the search, which is seen as a recovery operation given the children's extremely young ages, continues into Tuesday, officials described it as a "massive undertaking."
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Heavy rainfall and flash flooding have ravaged the Northeast over the weekend, with severe weather found in New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, in addition to Pennsylvania. Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) declared a state of emergency Sunday.
Vermont has also recently been devastated by severe storms, which caused President Joe Biden to declare a state of emergency last week. More rain and a potential for severe weather in parts of the Northeast have been forecast for Tuesday.