Heavy downpours batter the region

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Heavy rain Sunday and Monday left tens of thousands without power, closed roads and schools, flooded basements, stranded motorists and even caused a roof fire in Anne Arundel.

“It’s literally been a flood of calls since yesterday evening,” said Lt. Frank Fennell of the Anne Arundel Fire Department, on Monday. The county experienced some of the worst flooding and power outages in the region.

“People are trying to drive across flooded roads, and we’re trying to stop them.”

Stranded vehicles were reported along flooded roads in Gambrills, Linthicum and Maryland City, officials said.

To better monitor the storms, the Maryland Emergency Management Agency increased staffing at the state Joint Operations Center and met with the four National Weather Service offices serving local emergency managers and state agencies.

By Monday afternoon, crews from Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. restored power to more than 70,000 customers, company officials said.

More than 21,000 Baltimore County and 19,000 Anne Arundel County customers lost power, BGE reported. In the region, 20,000 were still without power.

Anne Arundel fire officials fielded more than 200 calls before noon Monday, and calls continued throughout the day for basement floods, downed wires and stranded vehicles.

The Department of Public Works urged residents in southern Anne Arundel to curtail non-essential wastewater use.

In Epping Forest, a community outside Annapolis, a roof caught fire after a tree fell onto a wire and collapsed onto it, Fennell said.

The Coast Guard rescued 12 U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen and two coaches Sunday night from a sailboat in Chesapeake Bay near the West River when the boat’s rigging and mast were damaged during the storm, an academy spokeswoman said.

The Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport reported 1.49 inches of rain Sunday, breaking an 84-year-old record, National Weather Service officials confirmed. By Monday afternoon, the total had risen to 3.5 inches.

Other rainfall totals through Monday were 4.95 inches at Churchtown in Anne Arundel, 2.5 inches at Odenton, 2.7 inches in Columbia and 1.77 inches in Towson. Some parts of Anne Arundel received up to 6.5 inches of rain, according to the MEMA.

Howard didn’t receive nearly as many calls except for sporadic flooding on Furnace Avenue in Elkridge and Woodland Road in Columbia, said Bill Mould, the county’s fire and rescue spokesman.

Carroll experienced flooding and road closures mostly around Taneytown roads, officials said.

Power outages in Anne Arundel forced the closure of Point Pleasant, Pasadena, Shady Side, Belvedere and Benfield elementary schools; Severna Park Middle School; and J. Albert Adams Academy.

Harford closed North Harford high, middle and elementary schools in Pylesville and Norrisville Elementary School in White Hall.

jkowalkowski@baltimoreexaminer.com

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