The Pittsburgh area is green and under water. The Saint Patrick’s Day parade is on Saturday and done town is going to be green with people as they celebrate the parade. It is going to go on with no exceptions like rain, snow, or flooding. Everyone will be done there in there green and having fun. They do need to worry about the flooding though. With that the city is going underwater with the rain and melting snow. The rivers are coming up fast and everyone is trying to stay dry. Marching under light rain, the St. Patrick’s Day parade got under way downtown. The parade features about 200 marching units with 18 marching bands and is one of the largest in the nation, organizers say. Organizers anticipated 150,000 to 200,000 people to attend, but attendance has been light. I think the rain and the flooding concerns made some people stay home and make sure nothing happens. Trying to stay safe in case the waters get to their homes near the rivers.

The Army Corps of Engineers is currently releasing water from its 16 area flood-control reservoirs, in order to make more room for the surge of water that may come this weekend, said Werner C. Loehlein, chief of water management for the Corps’ Pittsburgh district. But only about one-third of the 19,000-square-mile drainage area upstream of Pittsburgh can be controlled with those reservoirs, he said. There is only so much that they can do about all of the water that is coming. There has not been this much water to worry about in a long time. They are setting up shelters and other places for people to go if their home in damaged in the floodwaters. All of this is putting a damper on the celebration on the parade. Hoping that it does not get as bad as think it might.