Updated at 4 p.m. on Monday: Montgomery County emergency personnel responded to approximately 250 calls for service Monday morning, including more than 25 water rescues as rain flooded many parts of the county.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services typically handles 350 calls a day, but racked up 250 from 7:30 to 10:30 a.m., spokesman Pete Piringer reported.
Fire department officials said many of the calls for help were in Bethesda, Potomac and Germantown. No serious injuries were reported as of 3:30 p.m.
The county’s emergency alert system issued a warning to residents, urging drivers to turn around if they come across a flooded or barricaded road.
“It is never safe to walk or drive through flood waters,” the alert says. “It could endanger your life and the lives of first responders.”
The National Weather Service issued another flood warning from 12:50 to 6 p.m., following a flash flood warning that ran through 11:45 a.m.
Several areas in the county had rainfall of 1.5 inches or more, including 5.55 inches in North Potomac, according to the National Weather Service.
Portions of Massachusetts Avenue, near Goldsboro Road in Bethesda, have “washed away,” according to county officials, and the road was closed Monday morning. Several vehicles were reported to be stranded on the road.
Piringer said the county’s emergency communication system was on “condition red” due to a high volume of emergency calls, meaning non-emergency radio communication was restricted among first responders.
A statement from the National Weather Service says areas in the county likely to experience flooding Monday morning were Germantown, Rockville, Gaithersburg, Damascus, Poolesville, Aspen Hill, Bethesda, Potomac, Wheaton and Clarksburg.
“Stay off the roads if at all possible,” the National Weather Service wrote in a post on Twitter. “This is not the ‘usual’ flooding.”
Runoff is expected to cause flooding of small creeks and streams and force road closures throughout the county. Rain is expected to end by mid-afternoon Monday.
Along with flooding, weather officials warned residents to be cautious of lightning accompanying the morning storm. A house at 7021 Wilson Lane in Bethesda was struck by lightning at about 9:15 a.m., according to Piringer. It was unclear if anyone was injured.
