Flooding blamed for 2 deaths in Pa.

HERSHEY, Pa. (AP) — Flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee is being blamed for two deaths in central Pennsylvania as rising waters shut down roads and prompted numerous evacuations.

Lancaster County Emergency Management Director Randy Gockley says a motorist trapped in a vehicle drowned early this morning in Elizabeth Township. Gockley says responders found 3 to 4 feet of water on the roadway as the nearby Hammer Creek went over its banks.

In Dauphin County, officials say an elderly man died Wednesday when the walls of his basement collapsed while he tried to bail flood waters out of his home.

Low-lying areas were inundated by flood waters and officials order evacuations of affected communities across the commonwealth. The state closed down the Capitol Complex and offices in Harrisburg, Reading and Scranton in response to the flooding.

Flooding caused a large number of transportation issues, including the closure of eastbound lanes of the Schuylkill Expressway in Philadelphia and northbound lanes of Interstate 81 in northern Lebanon County.