County Executive Gardner says the high water has still not receded.
Frederick, Md (KM) Frederick County received quite a bit of rain from Wednesday’s storm “The remnants of Hurricane Ida spared us from the devastation that Gulf Coast experienced,” says County Executive Jan Gardner, who spoke about the weather during her public information briefing on Thursday. “But we had as much as eight inches of rain falling in parts of our county yesterday {Wed}. And, again, dozens of road closures, and scores of water rescues and flooded buildings.”
As of 8:30 PM Wednesday, Frederick County Fire and Rescue Services says there were 22 water rescues, 56 flooding conditions and 13 vehicle accidents. One of those water rescues occurred in the area of Hessong Bridge Road and Blacks Mill Road, where emergency personnel had to rescue 12 students and their driver from a school bus that tried to cross a bridge, and was inundated with floodwaters. They were all successfully rescued, evaluated and safely returned home.
Gardner said the county’s fire and rescue personnel, sheriff’s deputies and public works employees stepped up to the plate and worked hard to keep citizens safe during the heavy rains. “Our public works crews are often not recognized, but they actually assisted the water rescues, including one or more of the school bus incidents,” she said.
The flooding also closed some of Frederick County’s parks. “Pinecliff and Buckeystown Parks will be closed through the weekend. And Devilbiss Bridge and Creagerstown Parks are also closed. And they’ll need to be evaluated and assessed once the Monocacy River recedes to see what the damage may be,” says Gardner. All four parks are located near the Monocacy River.
Also during her public information briefing, Gardner asked that residents not go into the high water. “We have had incidents today {Thurs} where we’ve had teenagers out in the water. And we certainly need to encourage to parents to make sure you know what your children are doing,” she says.
“But the water is very dangerous. It is high. We always say ‘turn around, don’t drown,'” Gardner continues. “But we also need after this event to make sure people do not think that this is a fun thing to do. It really does carry a lot of risk.”
The county-owned community center in Emmitsburg, which contains senior center, a library and the Emmitsburg town offices, was closed on Thursday due to flooding in the basement and the electrical system needed inspection. But Gardner says it’s expected to reopen on Friday.,
By Kevin McManus