The state put 58 counties, including all of southwestern Pennsylvania, under a drought watch yesterday, even as residents in Millvale and other communities cleaned up from flash flooding caused by torrential rain.

	Andy Starnes, Post-Gazette Eric Iwanejko, left, and Rich Biernstein, both members of the Millvale Fire Department, hose down Butler Street near Girty's Run yesterday. Click photo for larger image.

The National Weather Service calculated that as much as 2.78 inches fell between midnight Sunday and 8 a.m. yesterday. But that didn't stop the state Department of Environmental Protection from posting the drought watch, which calls for voluntary water conservation.

"After a fairly wet winter and spring, precipitation levels over the last two months have dropped dramatically," DEP Secretary Kathleen McGinty said.

A drought watch is the first and least severe level of the state's three classifications. It calls for a voluntary 5 percent reduction in nonessential water use.

Much of the region was feeling anything but parched yesterday after heavy downpours moved through, swamping some streams and streets.

The brunt of the storm hit in the northern part of the Girty's Run watershed, quickly filling up that waterway, said Allegheny County Emergency Management Chief Robert Full. The creek runs through Millvale.

High water affected 150 properties in Millvale, including 120 residential sites, according to Mr. Full, and left the community under a state of emergency.

The properties were inundated with 6 inches to 8 feet of water, either from storm runoff or sewers backing up, the chief said. Volunteer firefighters were called to help pump water from 31 of them.

The state of emergency allows the local government to tap into funds for remediation after such occurrences, Mr. Full said.

"We were very fortunate," he said. "From what it looked like at daybreak with muck on streets and pumping, and with a great deal of help from residents and public works crews in neighboring communities ... there were no injuries anywhere in the county."

The DEP drought watch statement acknowledged that groundwater and smaller streams and creeks have declined. The National Weather Service reported those water sources are well below normal levels.

"The vast majority of Pennsylvania is running at 10 to 24 percent of normal flow in small streams and creeks," weather service meteorologist Lee Hendricks said.

"Right now, our reservoirs are in good shape but with many water suppliers relying on groundwater wells, it's imperative to curb consumption in affected areas to ensure an adequate supply," Ms. McGinty said.

While yesterday's precipitation was needed, much of it ran off the parched, hardened ground and found its way onto roadways and into basements.

Some eastern neighborhoods also were hard hit, Mr. Full said.

About 10 homes near the bottom of Brown Avenue in Wilkins and Turtle Creek were evacuated because Thompson Run overflowed its banks, but those evacuations were brief.

In the North Hills, parts of Interstate 79, Mount Nebo Road, Route 65 and Camp Horne Road were impassable at the height of the storm because Lowries Run overflowed its banks.

A catch basin on Crawford Road in Ohio Township was overwhelmed by flash flooding, which caused the roadway to be undermined, township Manager John Sullivan said.

The washed out subsurface caused a hole in the roadway 15 feet wide and about 18 feet long, making it impassable, Mr. Sullivan said.

By yesterday afternoon, all of the high water had gone down, Mr. Full said.

There is a 20 percent to 40 percent chance of more rain through Thursday, Mr. Hendricks said.

"But," he said, "it'll be more spotty than we got over the past 24 hours."