# Ivan the Terrible comes to Pittsburgh **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 18, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862 "2004-09-18T16:27:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/21 "2004-09-19T00:39:56Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > You really do live in the middle of nowhere when you use Hanover as a geographical marker… 😃 Laugh all you want. When the final days of the apocalypse are upon us, who do think will still have potato chips and pretzels? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/22 "2004-09-19T00:43:47Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Laugh all you want. When the final days of the apocalypse are upon us, who do think will still have potato chips and pretzels? 😛 Berlin PA? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/23 "2004-09-19T00:44:16Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Laugh all you want. When the final days of the apocalypse are upon us, who do think will still have potato chips and pretzels? 😛 There are Snyders in Berlin, too, ya know… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Oat1957](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Oat1957](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oat1957)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/24 "2004-09-19T01:29:04Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Look, Carroll County’s last moment in the sun was July 4, 1831 – give the guy a break!! 🙂 fyi, Carroll County, Md. was formed in **1836** by taking a piece of then Baltimore County to the east and Frederick County to the west. The residents complained that the distance to either county seat was too great. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/25 "2004-09-19T02:01:51Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > I was thinking of you late yesterday. You sure picked a hell of a year to move. Good thing you didn’t buy a house closer to the river. :eek: [Heh](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=276465) ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/26 "2004-09-19T02:40:36Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Berlin PA? > > 😃 Oddly enough, East Berlin, PA is only about 7 miles up Harrisburg Street from Hanover, but they don’t have any snack food plants up there. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/27 "2004-09-19T02:58:36Z")
> **[Ivan's lingering wrath crosses the state](https://cumberlink.com/news/ivans-lingering-wrath-crosses-the-state/article_efea2f3c-4ffa-5b4a-8d1e-bfb1352ec7b9.html)** > > PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Heavy rains from remnants of Hurricane Ivan swelled creeks and spilled into streets and highways Friday, prompting widespread evacuations of low-lying area, trapping some people in their > [@](#): > > Among the areas hardest hit was Etna, a town along the Allegheny River north of Pittsburgh, where floodwaters continued to rise, submerging cars and prompting evacuations. The waters even forced the borough’s fire department to leave the fire hall. > > June Lang, the bookkeeper at Etna’s Blarney Stone Restaurant, waited Friday afternoon along with two other employees to be rescued. > > “We’re on the second floor and we’re safe,” she said, adding that about four feet of water was in the parking lot. “It’s getting to be laughable because it’s past the point of getting scared.” > > “It’s a sea of water out here. We saw our Dumpster floating by,” she said, adding that not since 1986 has flooding been so bad. > > Down the river in Millvale, streets were filled with water and residents were urged to get as high as they could in their homes and hang bright clothing out of their windows until help could arrive. I was going to complain that, over here, it was so bone dry that we needed something like that! Then the sky opened up here too in Phoenix! Nowhere close as the downpour that is going on over your neck of the woods though. Glad to hear you are doing ok Kat, take care. > [@Guinastasia](#): > > Did anyone see the footage of those morons driving right through the flood waters and getting stuck? People were actually moving barricades and then driving through! > > Then I heard there was looting in Etna last night. Dumbasses. It would serve them right if they got tripped up on a power line under the water. I think one of the dumbasses’ cars is pictured in the link of the news bit. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/28 "2004-09-19T03:23:12Z")
Does anyone know if Siege is okay? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/29 "2004-09-19T05:34:41Z")
She’s all right-she posted a check in thread in MPSIMS. I remember the '86 flood-I was only seven, but I remember we weren’t sure if my dad was okay at the for an hour or so-he was at work, and we couldn’t reach him. He did make it home, but we were left without power for a few days. But that only affected those of us in the North Hills, not all of Pittsburgh, and the outlying counties. Gov. Rendell declared several of them under state of emergency this time. Etna-my parents lived in Etna when I was first born, but I don’t remember the apartment. Right after that, we lived in Millvale for a few years, which I DO remember, and I think my dad said our old neighborhood was one of the areas flooded. I know both areas well-right across from the Blarney Stone is Aliottos Pizza, where we used to go all the time when I was just a kid. I’ll bet they’re totally destroyed as well. Lang was on the phone with KDKA news last night, keeping them up to date of her situation. [sub]Oh, and Poly? Ivan was of the Rurik dynasty. His first wife, Anastasia Feodorovna, was a Romanov-her nephew was the first Romanov Tsar, Mikhail I[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/30 "2004-09-19T14:01:26Z")
Well, it’s the day after The Great Deluge, and it’s absolutely beautiful outside, if a bit chilly. It’s still pretty muddy, though, so an outing to the park is a bad idea, what with Aaron’s predilection for mud puddles. 😉 Robin ---
**Author:** ![Iacob\_Matthew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Iacob\_Matthew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iacob_Matthew)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/31 "2004-09-19T16:13:39Z")
Meh. Home’s a farm. My Step-dad’s at war with the farmer renting his land & the one just West of us, so they’ve been digging competing drainage ditches into eachother’s lawn for a year. After even normal Ohio rain, our front lawn’s got ducks swimming in it for a week. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/32 "2004-09-19T19:48:42Z")
Everything’s all right here. In fact, I’m sitting here at the computer with a handsome man on the couch and the Steeler game on the television (it’s a shame they’re not winning). As it happens, I went home early on Friday night with a slight case of food poisoning, and both guys spent the evening with me. **HJay** lost power, but otherwise we didn’t take any damage. Has anyone heard from **Steelerphan** , **catsix** , or **Chicago Faucet**? If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll get back to that fellow on the couch now, but thanks for asking. CJ ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/33 "2004-09-19T22:19:02Z")
Did anyone else have a visual picture of Siege rowing by houses on a canoe? Just me, eh? 🙂 Have fun with your guy, knowing the Browns ain’t gonna do any better than the Steelers. vanilla, an Oilers fan for some odd reason :o ---
**Author:** ![The\_27th\_Evil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ebca7d/32.png) [@The\_27th\_Evil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_27th_Evil)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/34 "2004-09-20T03:08:35Z")
Just got a call from my parents who live in the Susquehanna floodplain, along with my entire immediate family. The river crested three feet below flooding by Wilkes-Barre, so they and my little brother escaped without harm. The little dork proceeded to walk to the dike, two blocks from his dorm room, to check it out while rain was still falling. After losing her home to Agnes during high school, Mom’s always been a bit scared of floods and nearly killed him for it. Ah, my family. Nuts, but I love them. And am very happy they’re alright. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/35 "2004-09-20T04:15:24Z")
Drove from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati on Friday, in the midst of the rain. There was pretty bad flooding all the way down US 19, and along I-70 until about Zanesville, Ohio. Work called tonight to say that I have to report in the morning as usual, but that the building is still without water because the flooding took out a pump station. The closest working bathrooms to where I work are about 20 minutes drive away. I might call out tomorrow. Now I am 100% sure my boss is mentally ill. My house is fine and safe. The creek out back did not come this high, and the well is still supplying potable water. The drive Friday was pure misery, though. It came down in buckets, and many roads were closed. I hope work is closed tomorrow, but my boss is such an ass that I bet it won’t be unless the health department shows up to fine him for having people working in a building with _no running water of any kind_. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/36 "2004-09-20T04:17:17Z")
> [@catsix](#): > > I hope work is closed tomorrow, but my boss is such an ass that I bet it won’t be unless the health department shows up to fine him for having people working in a building with _no running water of any kind_. I think a nice little anonymous phone call to OSHA or the local health department is in order… ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/37 "2004-09-20T04:24:36Z")
If I could make 100% sure he wouldn’t know who called, that’d be a damn fine idea. A twenty minute **drive** away is not ‘alternative accomodations’. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/38 "2004-09-20T05:55:09Z")
Give your information to someone you trust, **catsix** , and have them make the call. There are laws in place about that sort of thing. An elderly member of the church we attended when we lived in Pittsburgh broke her hip as she tried to make it through ankle-deep sludge in her basement. She fell into the muck, which must be presumed to be contaminated with raw sewage. She has to get a series of vaccinations now, in addition to the surgery for her hip, and I can’t imagine how awful it must’ve been for her – she was down for about ten minutes before anyone was able to get her up and out. A dear friend of ours in Heidelberg has lost everything. Everything. Her home is going to have to be demolished. She spent today trying to find anything which might be salvagable. Many things she held dear simply floated away. She said that Heidelberg and Carnegie look like third world countries or something even worse, and that none of the businesses on the main streets are going to be able to open tomorrow, or any time in the foreseeable future. Her husband works for the Chevy dealership on Mansfield Boulevard in Carnegie and they had 300 new cars either float away or ruined by water. They’re estimating the loss at nearly $6 million. I’m just confounded by the enormity of the destruction. My heart is with everyone in Pittsburgh and all of the flooded areas. Please be safe in the cleanup, folks. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/39 "2004-09-20T11:46:34Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > She’s all right-she posted a check in thread in MPSIMS. > > I remember the '86 flood-I was only seven, but I remember we weren’t sure if my dad was okay at the for an hour or so-he was at work, and we couldn’t reach him. > He did make it home, but we were left without power for a few days. But that only affected those of us in the North Hills, not all of Pittsburgh, and the outlying counties. Gov. Rendell declared several of them under state of emergency this time. That one affected the North Hills pretty badly, but the flood I remember from living in the Mon Valley was in November of 1985. I was on a field trip to Fallingwater the day the flood hit, and we were stranded on the wrong side of the river for hours. We finally found that the bridge in Charleroi wasn’t closed, and we made our way back to Ringgold after crossing it. In Monongahela, the bus drove through about 18 inches of water. In retrospect, this was a breathtakingly stupid risk to take. We wound up having lots of friends and relations coming to our house to shower and do laundry, since we lived on a ridge and had a well. All municipal water systems, which drew from the river, were shut down for about two weeks. This service was repeated some time later when the Ashland tank ruptured, and sent all of that diesel fuel into the river. ---
**Author:** ![Sweetums](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Sweetums](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweetums)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862/40 "2004-09-20T14:16:55Z")
I live downriver from Pittsburgh in Wheeling WVa. I work, however about 45 minutes North in Steubenville Ohio. this Friday, I didn’t make it home since the roads south were either burried under mudslides, or under water. Even routs to Pittsburgh were closed, the on ramps to the bridges over the Ohio were under water. They got 22 to Pittsburgh open Sunday, which is nice since that was how I had to get home, going from Steubenville Ohio, to Pittsburgh, to Wheeling. Check it out on a map, this is not the short cut. 🙂 ``` Got home Saturday night. Despite living on a large hill, I had water in my basement due to seepage from ground saturation, spent Sunday cleaning it out. Still, considering that most of the lowlying areas down the Ohio are still under water, and what others have suffered, it could have been a much worse weekend. ``` [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ivan-the-terrible-comes-to-pittsburgh/264862.md?page=1)