Officials are still searching for two children who were swept away by floodwaters in Washington Crossing, Upper Makefield Township. (6abc)
Weather has again delayed the search for two missing children in Bucks County.
The children, 9-month-old Conrad Sheils and 2-year-old Matilda “Mattie” Sheils, were swept away by floodwaters in Upper Makefield Township on Saturday amid flash flooding that claimed the lives of five people, including the siblings’ mother, 32-year-old Katie Sealy.
Authorities had planned to pivot to a dive-based search on Wednesday, but were derailed by weather and river conditions. On Thursday, Upper Makefield police in a Facebook post cited morning fog and expected afternoon storms as impediments to the department’s search efforts.
“Mother Nature has heard all of your prayers and we are trying to resume the search for Mattie and Conrad,” the department wrote. “We are in the process of getting dogs teams and having the dive unit check the conditions of the river to see if they can get into the water today.”
Police said they also hope to comb through an “extremely large” debris pile again.
Upper Makefield Fire Chief Tim Brewer on Tuesday explained the operation would be scaling down from its extensive land-based search, which had pulled in about 100 officials, as well as drones and cadaver dogs, to comb the area near the creek that drains into the Delaware River.
First responders, Brewer said, had searched the 1 1/2-mile-long flood zone more than a dozen times.
Police thanked residents for their outpouring of support during what they called a “terrible tragedy.” A GoFundMe for the Sheils family had raised more than $140,000 as of Wednesday morning.
The Sheils family has been visiting from Charleston, South Carolina.
The family’s father, Jim Sheils, was able to escape severe flooding with his 4-year-old son, but the mother, grandmother, and two missing children were swept away by floodwaters. The grandmother survived and was treated at a local hospital, police said.
A new GoFundMe has also been created to support the family of Susan Barnhart, a 53-year-old from Titusville, New Jersey who died in the flood.
The remaining flood victims were identified as Yuko Love, 64, Linda Depiero, 74, and Enzo Depiero, 78.
Bucks County coroner Meredith Buck confirmed that the cause of death for all five victims was accidental drowning.
A community vigil for those lost in the flood is set to take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 20, at Washington Crossing United Methodist Church.
Another vigil is set for 7 p.m. on Sunday, July 23, at the Garden of Reflection 9-11 Memorial in Yardley’s Memorial Park.
WHYY News’ Sophia Schmidt, Cory Sharber, and The Associated Press contributed reporting.
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