By Associated Press - Wednesday, July 25, 2018

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The Latest on heavy rains in central Pennsylvania (all times local):

4:45 p.m.

The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency says there have been dozens of water rescues during five days of rain that have drenched the state.



A PEMA spokesman said Wednesday there have been more than three dozen rescues in just Schuylkill, Chester, Dauphin, Snyder and Northampton counties.

The rains have closed businesses, stranded motorists and caused property damage in central and eastern Pennsylvania since they began Saturday morning.

Nearly a foot of rain has fallen in some areas.

The weather has set records for July rainfall at recording stations in Harrisburg and Williamsport.

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12:45 p.m.

Days of drenching rains are closing roads, sending creeks and streams over their banks and prompting some evacuations in central Pennsylvania.

Firefighters helped evacuate people in a neighborhood near Hershey on Wednesday morning, and search crews have not been able to find a woman swept away Monday night while crossing the rain-swollen Conewago Creek near Elizabethtown.

Rainfall totals of up to 7 to 11 inches have soaked central Pennsylvania over the past five days, with more on the way before clearer weather is expected Thursday.

Extremely high water levels on the Susquehanna River caused the Harrisburg Senators, who play on a river island, to postpone two games.

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Hersheypark and Knoebels Amusement Park in Elysburg closed Monday and again Wednesday. Both attractions are located along flooded streams.

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8:15 a.m.

Heavy downpours are soaking parts of central Pennsylvania, causing evacuations and forcing an amusement park to close for the second time this week.

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Hersheypark announced it will be closed Wednesday. The park closed Monday after heavy rain and flash flooding caused Spring Creek, which runs through the amusement park, to rise.

Flash flooding forced emergency services in Hershey to evacuate some people from Sunset Drive Wednesday. More than a handful of roads also are closed where their bridges cross Swatara Creek. The creek is swollen following days of heavy rain.

Forecasters say heavy showers and possible thunderstorms will continue through the day. That rain could only make the situation worse.

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6:30 a.m.

Bands of heavy rain continue to cause problems in central Pennsylvania.

Flash flooding is forcing emergency services to evacuate some people from Sunset Drive in Hershey Wednesday. More than a handful of roads also are closed where their bridges cross Swatara Creek. The creek is swollen following days of heavy rain.

Forecasters say heavy showers and possible thunderstorms will continue through the day. That rain could only make the situation worse.

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Heavy rain and flash flooding forced officials to close Hersheypark on Monday. Spring Creek, which runs through the amusement park, largely stayed within its banks after flooding briefly Monday.

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