Local State Of Emergency Declared In Frederick After Flooding, Torrential Downpour
FREDERICK, Md. (WJZ) -- The mayor of Frederick has declared a local state of emergency after storms caused historic flooding and massive destruction throughout Frederick County.
From a bird's-eye view, the flooding in Frederick has swallowed many parts of town following storms Tuesday night that dumped seven inches of rain in just two hours.
Streets became rivers, cars in parking lots floated away and even feet of water poured into homes and businesses.
Cleanup began Wednesday -- a monumental task after rain continued to wash over the region.
City officials are asking residents to "refrain from nonessential water use until further notice."
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Mayor Michael O'Connor wrote in a statement Wednesday afternoon that the state of emergency "provides our City the opportunity to take advantage of any state and federal assistance that may be available."
A Flood Warning remained in effect Wednesday night.
"We had two situations. We had urban storm drain systems that could not absorb all the water. Then we had some of our rural roads have our bridges and our streams overflow and really wash out some roadways," Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner said.
First responders worked tirelessly Tuesday night, fielding more than 1,000 911 or non-emergency calls and rescuing nearly 60 people trapped in their cars by the rising waters.
The local YMCA pumped 10 feet of water from its basement.
"The water was coming up through the toilets," YMCA board chairman Steve Heine said.
Heine estimates repairs could cost about $1 million.
"All the exercise rooms, all of the locker rooms, all of the offices, had up to four inches of water in them," Heine said.
The price tag at Route 180 is likely much higher. The well-traveled road was nearly washed away by a wall of water from the gushing Catoctin Creek.
Lieutenant Governor Boyd Rutherford visited as crews began cleanup Wednesday.
"There's a lot of work that's going to have to be done down there," he said.
The area is bracing for more floods as rain is expected to continue through the week.
WJZ's Devin Bartolotta contributed to this story.
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