Flooding continues to inundate parts of the East Coast Wednesday, one day after high waters swept away a 12-year-old boy in Virginia, prompted water rescues, and led to school evacuations.
Heavy rain hit Pennsylvania down to North Carolina on Tuesday, causing rivers and creeks to overflow, turning streets into rivers, and toppling trees that blocked traffic in the Washington D.C. area.
In Virginia, a 12-year-old boy went missing after he was swept into floodwaters from a creek in Albemarle County, Virginia. First responders paused their search for the child by evening due to limited visibility, but the search is expected to resume this morning, the Albemarle County Fire Rescue said.
In Allegany County, Maryland, George’s Creek Elementary School and Westernport Elementary were evacuated Tuesday.
Westernport Elementary saw water breach the second floor of the school, prompting water rescues for 150 students and 50 teachers. It took 15 trips for the rescue boats to safely evacuate the school, Allegany County Emergency Services said.
Videos on social media showed streets overtaken with water, creeks and rivers rushing with high, muddy water and toppled trees blocking roads in Allegany County, Maryland. In Westernport, the flood waters reached up to the windows of cars.
The worst flooding impacted areas west of Washington D.C., and Reagan National Airport clocked 1.5 inches of rain Tuesday, NBC Washington reported.
Showers and a few thunderstorms will develop Wednesday across the mid-Atlantic region this afternoon into the evening, and will push off to the east on Thursday, the national weather service office forecast.
Today, all Allegany County Public Schools will be closed due to severe flooding and no virtual learning will take place.
Flood warnings are in effect through 11 a.m. Wednesday for Allegany County, Maryland to Mineral County, West Virginia, with small streams flooding due to excessive rainfall. Warnings are also in place in West Virginia for the city of Winchesters, and Clarke and Frederick Counties, and in Virginia for a spate of counties.
“Floodwaters are still working down some larger streams and rivers this morning. Be prepared for road closures, and turn around if you encounter high water,” the national weather service office of Baltimore-Washington warned this morning.
