Fire Truck Stranded, Dozens Of Water Rescues In Flooded MoCo Roads

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — A Montgomery County fire truck was stuck in flooding on East-West Highway on Saturday as crews responded to one of dozens of incidents of people trapped in vehicles on flooded roads, authorities said.

One river sensor showed a 10-foot rise in the water in 30 minutes, according to the National Weather Service.

Between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. the Monmouth County Emergency Communication Center handled about 100 calls for service, "including dozens of water rescues in which (firefighters) assisted multiple people from vehicles, from Potomac through Kensington, Silver Spring & over to Takoma Park," said Pete Piringer, the public information officer for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services.

The crew of the fire truck from the Chevy Chase Fire Department was responding to an incident in Silver Spring when the truck was flooded out at East-West Highway in the area of Sundale Drive, Piringer said.

"Our crew is okay, & assisted vehicle occupant to higher ground," Piringer said in a post on X.

At Meadowbrook Local Park in Chevy Chase, crews were evacuating 20 people who had become stranded in a building there when it became surrounded by floodwater, Piringer said.

As of 10:30 p.m. there had been no reports of fatalities.

Montgomery County, along with parts of Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties, was under a flash flood warning until about 9:30 p.m. Saturday because of storms that dumped as much as 4 inches of rain per hour in the area. The National Weather Service was warning people to stay off the roads because the flooding threat was so severe, calling it "life-threatening."

The Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management said a flood warning remains in effect for parts of the county until 11:15 p.m. because of the continued threat from storm runoff.

In the immediate aftermath of the storm, a video shared by the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang on X showed water waist deep on East-West Highway and a white minivan stranded in it.

WTOP reported bystanders rescued the people who had been in minivan and shared video of the rescue.

Silver Spring was hit particularly hard. The entire length of Sligo Creek Parkway was closed, the Montgomery County division of the Park Police said shortly before 7 p.m., and there had been at least three water rescues on that road, Piringer said.

The Post reported Silver Spring received about 5 inches of rain and Great Falls received 5.5 inches. Greenbelt in Prince George's County received about 2 inches, the report said.

The flood sensor at Sligo Creek Parkway at New Hampshire Avenue recorded a 10-foot water rise in 30 minutes, according to a graphic from the National Weather Service.

A video of an unidentified road in Silver Spring showed flooding from the heavy rain. The Post reported radar showed the area received 4 inches of rain in about an hour.

The Post reported Silver Spring received about 5 inches of rain and Great Falls received 5.5 inches. Greenbelt in Prince George's County received about 2 inches, the report said.

The National Weather Service was warning people to stay off the roads because the flooding threat was so severe, calling it "life-threatening." A flash flood warning continued until about 9 p.m., the weather service said.

The Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management said a flood warning remained in effectfor parts of the county until 11:15 p.m. because of the continued threat from storm runoff.