The Mon Wharf

Got the following message yesterday at around 1 PM:

The Mon Wharf is flooding. Anyone parked there
should move their cars immediately!

And in the paper today, this story:

Drivers wade to flooded Mon Wharf as rising water surprises many

Just after noon yesterday, Glenn Swoger contemplated how to make his white truck safe and keep himself dry after finding it to be the last, lonely vehicle in nearly two feet of water along the Monongahela Wharf guardrail.

His vehicle was among 475 initially parked on the wharf that were threatened by the fast-rising river. He and other Downtown commuters sometimes known as "wharf rats" rushed to the parking lot before lunchtime, after the Pittsburgh Parking Authority alerted the media and nearby building staffs that cars needed to be moved because of flooding....

The flooding was caused by heavy rainfall east and south of Pittsburgh, along with near-record rainfall in Pittsburgh since Tuesday, said Joe Palko, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. At 7 a.m. yesterday, the weather service forecast that the Ohio River would crest late in the afternoon at 20.4 feet at the Point -- more than two feet above the level where the wharf would flood from the Monongahela River....

Mr. Onorato said those who park on the wharf, similar to those at any lot or garage, do so at their own risk. The most serious problem he heard of yesterday was someone whose car wouldn't start after it had been surrounded by water, though not submerged. He said it was towed to the motorist's dealership....

Look, I'm not a geologist, a meteorologist, or a uh... riverologist... but I know what a "Wharf" is:



No... wait, that's wrong.

A wharf is A landing place or pier where ships may tie up and load or unload or, less commonly, A shore or riverbank.

Let's see... what would you need for landing a ship... hmmm... Ah! Water. And you see, the thing about flowing water, one of the things, of which there are many, is that water tends to flood.

Can't imagine why anyone would think the wharf might flood.



Can't figure it out.



Nope, not at all.

So I can see how people are shocked, SHOCKED! that the wharf flooded, 'cause it, like, has never, ever, ever, ever happened.

Ever.

This month.