PHOTOS: Flooding seen around Pottstown in wake of winter storm

POTTSTOWN — An intense winter storm dropped more than 3 inches of rain onto the region and knocked down trees and power lines late Tuesday, putting thousands out of power for several hours.

According to the Schuylkill River gauge at Pottstown, the river was still rising around 3 p.m. Wednesday, and was a little more than a foot over flood stage. The borough announced that a flood warning was issued for the area until midnight Wednesday and announced the closure of both Memorial and Riverfront parks.

“The water level on the Manatawny Creek and Schuylkill River are expected to continue to rise throughout the day even though the rain has stopped. The winds will continue to gust to around 40 mph throughout the day. The river is expected to crest with moderate flooding,” the borough message posted Wednesday morning warned, issuing special caution for those living along Manatawny Street and the unit blocks of King, Chestnut, Walnut and Beech streets.

The U.S. Geological gauge along the Perkiomen Creek in Graterford measured three inches of rain and showed the creek height peaking at about 13 feet, just before noon. The flood stage there is 11 feet.

A similar gauge on French Creek in Phoenixville showed a peak of more than nine feet on Wednesday morning. The flood stage there is 8 feet.

In Norristown, the river gauge showed the Schuylkill peaking above 16 feet where the flood stage is 13 feet.

Roads throughout the region were closed as a result of fallen trees, some of which fell on power lines, knocking out power for five hours in parts of Pottstown.

Throughout the region, more than 200,000 customers were without power at some point as a result of the storm. But by 4:30 p.m., the number of outages had dropped to around 1,400 affecting 33,280.