Charleston family missing, dead in Pennsylvania flash flood

WASHINGTON CROSSING, P.A. (WCBD) – Officials in Pennsylvania are searching for a Charleston-area family after a flash flood swept the roadway Saturday night, leaving at least four people dead and three missing.

A sudden flash flood swamped a road and swept several cars away at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday in Pennsylvania’s Washington Crossing area.

Washington Crossing sits on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River bordering New Jersey, about 9 miles northwest of Trenton and 35 miles north of Philadelphia. 

“In my 44 years, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Upper Makefield Fire Chief Tim Brewer said.

At least four people are dead and three people are missing as of Sunday afternoon.

“One family has been severely affected,” Brewer said.

Buck County officials confirmed the family to be from Charleston, South Carolina.

The mother, her husband, her mother, and their three children were in Bucks County over the weekend to visit family.

During a Sunday afternoon press conference, Brewer said the father managed to get their 4-year-old son out of the vehicle and escape the floodwaters while the woman and her mother tried to rescue their 9-month-old son and 2-year-old daughter.

The mother, her grandmother, the baby boy, and the young girl were swept away by the flood.

The body of the mother and grandmother have been located.

A 9-month-old boy and a 2-year-old girl remain missing, authorities said.

“We’re continuing all efforts to find them,” Brewer said of the Charleston family.

The three other victims in the flood were also found dead outside of their vehicles near Washington Crossing Road.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.