PLUM POINT, Md. - With their homes perched on the edge of destruction, residents of the Neeld Estate community in Calvert County met with state and federal officials monday to plead for help.

Last week's nor'easter erased their protective beaches and sent waves crashing against their homes' foundations.

Residents frantically filled sandbags to protect their property.

But while the nor'easter is long gone, their homes remain in danger. Waves from the Chesapeake Bay continue to lap just inches from their homes. Without the sandbags, the foundations would crumble, homeowners fear.

"We're still very scared at the moment," said Marty Meyer. "We are still very vulnerable."

But the pull of the retreating waves is sucking the sandbags into bay. If they go, the water will slam directly into the homes

According to Meyer that would "actually bust the foundation out, so we are still in extreme danger at this point."

On Monday, three days after the storm, the county sent in workers to fence off the sandbags to keep people from walking on them.

Workers fence off the sandbags protecting the home.

Representatives from the governor's office and Maryland's Emergency Management Agency met with local officials and the residents of Neeld estate. They agreed to make an assessment of the situation within 48 hours. One home could be condemned because the water wore away the foundation.

"So that we can get a short-term and long-term solution to the problem," said Wilson Parran, president of the Calvert Board of County Commissioners.

While they are trying to come up with a way to force the water back, county officials addressed criticism that they did not act fast enough to help the residents.

"The county, I think, was responsive," said Terry Shannon, the Calvert County administrator. "We came out with several truckloads of sand, thousands of sandbags."

When asked why the county did not formally ask the governor for help. The county's head of emergency response said the situation did not rise to the level to warrant an appeal for the national guard.

"No, it did not rise to that level," said Bobby Fenwick, Calvert County's emergency management director. "Th[e] community was present [and] was filling the sandbags, doing the thing that was done for that private community was being handled."

Mary Reilly spent Monday assessing the damage to her home and worrying about her husband. Paramedics had to treat him when he almost collapsed from filling and hauling sandbags.

"I would have loved the National Guard," Reilly said. "Am I upset? You know what, it's too late to throw stones. We did whatever we could."

The residents are offering up a thank you to all the volunteers who raced to help them shore up their homes in the face of the ferocious storm.

 

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