Mid-Atlantic Downpour Forces Evacuations, Outages

Heavy rain and strong winds battered the mid-Atlantic region Monday, knocking out power to tens of thousands of customers, closing roads that flooded and prompting evacuations in flooded communities.

Up to 4 inches of rain fell across the region from Sunday afternoon into Monday morning, and the National Weather Service extended a flood warning for some areas into the afternoon.

A sinkhole up to 30 feet wide and 10 feet deep led to the evacuation of three homes in Camp Springs, said Mark Brady, a Prince George’s County fire department spokesman. The porch of one home collapsed into the hole.

In Chesapeake Beach, firefighters said a man and a woman suffered minor injured when high winds caused a house to collapse into a second home late Sunday.

In Delaware, the National Guard and state police helped evacuated coastal communities because of high tides and heavy rains that had flooded roads, said Allen Metheny, assistant director of emergency management in Kent County.

Authorities said trees came down in the high winds, cutting power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses.

The power was also out to more than 42,000 customers in Maryland, and thousands also lost power in Washington and northern Virginia.

Maryland Emergency Management Agency spokesman Ed McDonough said Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties were among the hardest hit by the storm. He says some areas had two feet of standing water, and another inch of rain was expected before the morning was over.