More Than a Dozen Rescued from Floodwaters Over Night

More than a dozen people were trapped in their cars by floodwaters over night and early this morning around the county as powerful storms flooded area roadways, according to Anne Arundel County Fire Department spokesman Chief Michael Cox.

Drivers are urged to be careful around standing water as more wet weather is predicted for today.

“A lot of these rescues were people who drove through standing water. Some even went around barricades on closed streets,” Cox said. “Nobody should drive through standing water. It is a dangerous practice and it could become life threatening.”

Emergency crews performed 12 swift water rescues of people trapped in cars by high water. In eight of those instances, the occupants were able to get out of their cars by themselves, Cox said. In four cases, firefighters had to enter moving water to pull the victims out.

Rescues occurred around the county. In some cases vehicles were stranded in multiple feet of water.

A woman was rescued from her car, which had become stuck in a sinkhole created by moving water washing away part of the roadway near Patuxent River Road and Queen Annes Bridge Road in Davidsonville around 4:30 a.m.

Around 12:27 a.m. a car was found disabled in about 4 feet of water near Dairy Farm and Snow Valley roads in Gambrills.

A driver was able to escape from a car near Oakwood and Aquahart roads in Glen Burnie, where the water was up to the car’s door jamb, Cox said.

Around 1:10 a.m. the driver of a large truck had to be extricated from the top of the vehicle, which was stuck in nearly 6 feet of standing water near Patuxent and Braggers roads in Odenton.

Two people were nearly swept away by moving water after they got out of their car, which had been disabled in floodwater near Burns Crossing and Old Mill roads in Odenton around 1:33 a.m. Two county police officers who arrived on the scene pulled the 63-year-old man and 68-year-old woman to higher ground. Both had minor injuries and were treated at Baltimore Washington Medical Center.

Additionally, emergency crews evacuated a family from their house in the 600 block of McKnew Road in Gambrills around 1:29 a.m. Water had risen around the home and flooded the basement. The family reported an odor of fuel and a car in the driveway was covered in water. The family was uninjured and taken to a local community center to spend the night, Cox said.

The fire department is also working through a queue of more than 65 non-emergency calls this morning, Cox said.