The heavy rain may be over, but the D.C. area was still dealing with its impact Wednesday as cleanup from historically high waters and damaging winds continued.
Flood warnings for parts of the region continued into Wednesday evening as residents dealt with issues related to the severe weather, such as fallen trees, power outages and road closures. WTOP Traffic reported that flooding continued to effect some area roadways well into the afternoon rush.
Flood warnings lasted until Wednesday night for parts of Prince William County, Virginia, as well as Prince George’s and Charles counties in Maryland.
Some coastal parts of the region that are prone to flooding were under an advisory Wednesday. The District’s shoreline as well as Arlington and Alexandria in Virginia fell into that category.
PHOTOS: DC-area deluge leaves fallen trees, flooded roads and lots to clean up
One of the biggest floods in Annapolis history
Preliminarily, flooding in Annapolis, Maryland, was the worst the coastal city has seen in 20 years, since Hurricane Isabelle, according to WTOP Traffic reporter Dave Dildine.
This is the third worst flooding in the city’s history and the worst in over 20 years, according to flood data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
As of Wednesday morning, WTOP’s Luke Lukert reported there were still a number of Annapolis businesses under several feet of water, even as floodwaters started to recede. The weather has left numerous businesses near the City Dock reeling.
“I’ve been around for a couple years. This is the worst that I’ve seen,” Cameron Drew, an employee of Storm Brothers Ice Cream Factory told WTOP while he was studying in the flood damaged shop.
He said two feet of water flooded the store, destroying equipment and ice cream freezers. The business even set up a pump that returns water back into the street in preparation. But it wasn’t enough.
“It was great until 10 or 10:30 p.m. and then it rose too fast and was too much,” he said. “I mean, these are huge pumps.”
Up the street at Market House, the business fared better and still opened on time at 6 a.m.
“The water level was up to our door here at Market House,” said Thomas Beall, an employee. “We had sandbags up so it didn’t get too far inside, fortunately.”
Roads and rails impacted by floodwaters, downed trees
Listen live to WTOP traffic and weather on the 8s for the latest.
In Loudoun County, the rain and wind impacted the morning commute. WTOP’s Neal Augenstein reported that Shreve Mill Road in Leesburg — which floods often because there’s a stream underneath it — shut down because of the floods.
Augenstein witnessed several cars turn around because drivers didn’t know that part of the road was washed out.
WTOP Traffic reported there was flooding on small roads near waterways in Northern Virginia and Montgomery County, Maryland.
Police in Prince William County told WTOP they had to rescue drivers that accidentally drove too far into flooded roadways, including Fleetwood Drive, Piper Lane and Aiden Road.
At the height of Tuesday’s severe weather, the Prince George’s County Fire and EMS Department assisted at least nine people who were stranded inside vehicles in raising waters.
A man was pulled from rising waters by a passerby, the department said. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition just after 9:30 p.m.
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In the District, the Northeast Boundary Tunnel, a new tunnel that was built in September to prevent the kind of flooding on Rhode Island Avenue that killed 10 dogs at District Dogs in August, worked as it was supposed to. The Northeast Boundary Tunnel is connected to the Anacostia River Tunnel system, and the amount of rain resulted in an overflow into the Anacostia River, according to John Lisle, vice president of communications at D.C. Water.
“Having the tunnel system and operation really served its dual purposes: one, to help mitigate flooding and hopefully prevent flooding in neighborhoods, but also to prevent millions of gallons of combined sewage from reaching the Anacostia River,” Lisle told WTOP. He said that small amount of overflow into the river on Tuesday night is rare.
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge was under a wind warning Wednesday evening — meaning there were sustained winds between 30-39 mph impacting the bridge. Drivers were encouraged to be careful when crossing the bridge.
Wind gusts at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge reached 80 mph Tuesday evening, which prompted the Maryland Transportation Authority to stop traffic on the bridge for about four hours.
Metro Green Line trains were running slower than usual Wednesday between the Archives and Navy Yard, thanks to flooding.
Metro said there was single tracking between Van Dorn Street and Braddock Road stations because of the flooding that took place on a track between King Street and Van Dorn Street stations. That issue was resolved and train service was restored on the Blue Line around 9 a.m.
Power outages
The map below contains current power outages in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. This map is updated every 10 minutes.
Forecast
WEDNESDAY:
Partly to mostly cloudy
Highs: 45-50
Winds: West Southwest 15-25 mph, Gusts to 40 mph
WEDNESDAY NIGHT:
Mainly clear
Lows: 25-35
Winds: Light
Thursday:
Mostly sunny
Highs: Low 50s
Winds: Southwest 5-10 mph
FRIDAY:
Increasing clouds, rain develops late afternoon/evening
Highs: Upper 40s
Winds: Southeast 5-10 mph
Current conditions
WTOP’s Jessica Kronzer, Tadiwos Abedje, Neal Augenstein and Luke Lukert contributed to this story.
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