Keyword Search:
text size: A | A | A
Cleanup Continues After Mass Flooding Across the Region
   posted 11:13 am Wed May 14, 2008 - WASHINGTON

      » ABC 7 News Slideshow: Heavy Rain Drenches Region
ABC 7 News - Cleanup Continues After Mass Flooding Across the Region
  ABC 7 News - Share Cleanup Continues After Mass Flooding Across the Region  ABC 7 News - Print Cleanup Continues After Mass Flooding Across the Region  ABC 7 News - Email Cleanup Continues After Mass Flooding Across the Region  ABC 7 News - RSS Feeds  ABC 7 News - Send Cleanup Continues After Mass Flooding Across the Region via Instant Messager
ABC 7 News - Share This Article
Stay on top of breaking news! Sign up for ABC 7 News e-mail alerts.
Your Email:  

After two sun-soaked days, residents were able to cleanup after Monday's rains flooded roads and homes, opened up sinkholes, and knocked out power.

The water finally backed out of Mary and Sharon Wedge's home and yard Tuesday morning and it left behind a soggy, muddy mess. "We've lost a lot of stuff you know, a lot of food. So, guess we just gotta deal with it and go on," said Sharon. 

As the mother and daughter worked to clean up, they also marveled at the flood. The water had come up before along Peerless Avenue, but never like it did Monday. "We've been here for 57 years and we've never had anything as devastating as this happen with the water, you know. It just seemed that something was a little different this time," said Sharon.

James Marshall met ABC 7's Horace Holmes on his inflatable raft to take Holmes to his house on the other side of Valley Lane. "You ever seen anything like this before," asked Holmes.  "No," Marshall replied. "It's flooded a bit before, but this is crazy!"

Since the rains washed out the only road to and from Marshall's house, the only way he could get supplies to his family was by raft. His wife and four children lived in one of four homes at the back of a dead end road."Nobody's been back here to check on us. They don't care too much about the people in the back," said Dana Marshall.

Refrigerators float outside an appliance store.

At Spike Chapman's appliance shop, the water floated a storage box down Marlboro Pike and they had to drag it back with a loader. 

The refrigerators were a jumbled mess from floating around the showroom and the office area needed to be stripped and rebuilt. The carpet and drywall need to be replaced and, like his neighbors, he says, he's never seen anything like it before. "Mother nature at its worst," said Chapman.

The crew at Marlboro Tire mopped up, pulled out carpet and planned a battle against the mold they knew would soon start growing. Owner Mike Kress said he was able to protect his files and the RV's he sells. As for everything else, the water just came too fast.

In Prince William County (web|news), rain soaked skies forced area streams, creeks and lakes to run over. 

The Veizaga's home on Bull Run was surrounded by water. Their basement had at least seven feet of floodwater and what smelled like sewer back up. The loss was too much to take for the family. The couple bought the home four years ago and rented it out to family. They got what they could out of the house, but fast moving floodwaters reached the basement ceiling.

"Yeah, we have insurance, don't know if it covers all of this," said Johnny Veizaga.

More than 20 roads and bridges were closed due to high water. A massive 20-foot-deep sinkhole has closed Dale Boulevard in Prince William County.

An elderly couple tried to drive through the standing water, but didn't make it to the other side. Some friendly residents helped push the couple to dry ground. "They're fine, they're fine," said Mary Lynch. "Their car stalled out, they wanted to get back to Fairfax."

Firefighters performed more than 25 swift water rescues for more than 25 people who had to be rescued from their cars that stalled out in water that was just too deep.

A sinkhole swallowed up four lanes of Dale Boulevard in Prince William County. Crews were waiting for things to dry out before beginning repairs. (FULL STORY)

In Stafford County, residents have suffered a tremendous one-two punch. First a powerful tornado rolled through the area Thursday night, and on Monday, nearly five inches of rain fell on homes already significantly damaged.

Everywhere you turn in the England Run Neighborhood, homes are draped with large plastic tarps. It was protection that was supposed to keep tornado ravaged homes safe from the elements, but they didn't work at many homes, including Bruce Caylor's.

"When the tarp failed there was water seeping in through the carpet, and once it gets on the floor, it seeps across the floor and under the carpets and drains down through the house," said Caylor.

Across the street, Maurice Baker's house was a wreck after the tornado tore through the area, but now his belongings that were once salvageable, are ruined by the rain. "It soaked it, it mildewed it, it has a bad odor. It messed up the furniture really bad," said Baker.

Blowers ran non-stop on the second floor of John Eberhart's house where the rain complicated an already difficult situation. "Our ceiling has fallen in. Our carpet is definitely ruined. That's the minor stuff, but the structure itself, we're really concerned the weather has taken its toll on that," said Eberhart.

In Prince George's County, the earth opened up, partially swallowing a Camp Springs family's home. Fire crews evacuated two neighboring homes because of concerns it could grow. No one was hurt. (FULL STORY)

In Prince William County, VDOT reported a sinkhole had blocked all four lanes at Dale Boulevard and Nassau Drive; several detours were in place. (FULL STORY)

In Chesapeake Beach, Maryland, firefighters said a man and a woman were injured when high winds caused a house to collapse into a second home late Sunday night.

"We just heard a huge, huge noise. We didn't know tornado, we didn't know what. It was just instant, " said homeowner Terry Schaeffer. Schaeffer and her husband ran out realizing that their neighbors were likely buried in their home. The woman got out quickly but her husband was trapped. It took three hours to get him free. In the meantime, the rains kept coming and the power outages kept spreading.

Bonnie Blackwell couldn't make it to her ice cream parlor in North beach because the street was flooded. With the power out, she knew her inventory was gone. "It's gonna be milkshakes or chocolate milk," she said.

A collapse team from Washington, D.C., assisted with the rescues. The injuries were not considered serious.

The National Weather Service (web|news) reported unofficial rain totals of up to seven inches, including:

North Beach (Calvert Co.): 7.07"
Dunkirk (Calvert Co.): 6.14"
Marlton (Prince George's Co.): 6.30"
Camp Springs: 5.05
Aldie (Loudoun Co.): 6.05
Frederick: 4.75"
Potomac: 3.40"
BWI (web|news) Marshall Airport: 3.65"
Reagan National Airport (web|news) : 3.89"
Alexandria (web|news) : 3.03
Dulles International Airport (web|news) : 4.39
Woodbridge: 4.86
Falmouth (Stafford Co.): 5.80

Across the region, winds toppled trees and utility poles.

Emergency workers in D.C. responded to a downed tree in the 3200 block of Rowland Place, NW. The falling tree broke a utility pole and damaged some cars. No one was hurt.

Dominion Virginia reported more than 11,000 customers were without power and Pepco reported 11,000 customers were without service.


Follow ABC 7 News on Twitter

Look For A Career In Education? Click Here
You need to be a registered member of
ABC 7 News to leave comments on news stories.
Not a member yet? Click Here to sign up.
Username or Email Address
Password
Please leave your comments below:
Messages that harass, abuse or threaten other members; have obscene or otherwise objectionable content; have spam, commercial or advertising content or inappropriate links may be removed and may result in the loss of your posting privileges. Please do not post any private information unless you want it to be available publicly. Never assume that you are completely anonymous and cannot be identified by your posts.


TM & © WJLA/NewsChannel 8, a division of Allbritton Communications Company
Please read our Privacy Policy. By using this site, you accept our Terms of Service.
Children's Television | EEO Reports | DTV Consumer Education Reports
WJLA adheres to the ICRA RATING SYSTEM