Missing autistic girl, 5, missing in storm found dead

PHILADELPHIA – A 5-year-old autistic girl who disappeared from a Philadelphia-area home during the height of Tuesday’s storm was found dead Wednesday and was believed to have been swept away by floodwaters in the creek behind her house, authorities said.

Police in Montgomery County’s Towamencin Township said Eliza Talal, described as autistic and nonverbal, was found at about 10:40 a.m. Wednesday in Fischer’s Park next to a creek after waters receded. An iPad she was believed to have been carrying was found under a neighbour’s deck.

Chief Paul Dickinson said she had last been seen at about noon in a Lansdale home, and several hundred people searched for her with the aid of boats and two helicopters. Police tried unsuccessfully to ping the iPad as part of the search, he said.

“We believe, based on the circumstances, that she left the house and somehow got into the water and then of course was pulled into the water,” Dickinson said.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service has confirmed that tornadoes touched down in Bucks and Montgomery counties during Tuesday’s storm. More details were to be released later on the strength and exact location of the storms, which were among six that struck the region. Tornadoes also touched down in Ocean and Cape May counties in New Jersey, Kent and New Castle Counties in Delaware and Queen Anne’s County, Maryland.

In Bucks County on Tuesday, high winds partially tore the roof off a day care centre on the grounds of a suburban Philadelphia hospital, injuring four children. Doylestown Health said four children and some staff members were treated for minor injuries, and all of the children were moved to a local middle school to reunite with family.

An eastern Pennsylvania coroner on Wednesday released the name of a woman who died after her vehicle was swept away by floodwaters. The Lehigh County coroner’s office said 44-year-old Yesenia Then of Allentown was pronounced dead just before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday after her vehicle entered high water in Upper Saucon Township and was swept downstream. An autopsy is slated Thursday.

Tens of thousands of electric customers remained without power in the Philadelphia suburbs, with PECO reporting more than 55,000 customers without power in Chester County, more than 32,500 in Bucks County and more than 10,500 in Montgomery County.

Regional rail service was suspended Wednesday in Philadelphia after the storm raised the Schuylkill River and sent an unsecured construction barge into the Vine Street Expressway Bridge, upstream from a rail bridge at 30th Street. Interstate 676, which crosses the bridge, also was closed in both directions.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials said three tugboats will be brought up the river Thursday afternoon when the current slows to remove the barge, and then the expressway bridge will be inspected for structural damage.

Fire commissioner Adam Thiel said his department made close to 200 rescues, more than half of them in the hard-hit Eastwick neighbourhood, and evacuated an apartment building in Manayunk, where floodwaters sent cars floating and caused significant damage to buildings

City officials said they were looking into securing disaster aid. Red Cross officials said about 130 people were sheltered Tuesday night and they were anticipating sheltering 160 Wednesday night.

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Associated Press writer Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia contributed to this report