More than 40 Brock Bridge residents slept at a Maryland City fire station Tuesday night after county officials called for a voluntary evacuation.
Brock Bridge Road sits below the T. Howard Duckett Dam. There were a few inches of water in some areas and several feet in others. The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission opened six of the dam?s seven floodgates to keep water from the Rocky Gorge Reservoir from overflowing, said James Weed, the county?s director of emergency management. This caused water levels in the Patuxent River and Little Patuxent River to rise, Weed said.
Wednesday morning, residents who spent the night at the shelter ? which was equipped with cots, food, games and numerous Red Cross volunteers ? said they were eager to get home.
“I want to see my garden,” said Dawn Ebys, 36, a Parkway Village Mobile Home Park resident.
Ebys?s home sits on top of a hill, and she said she was worried the rain might carry it away in the middle of the night. She said she brought her four children and their two cats to spend the night at the shelter as a precaution.
“People are not worried about themselves ? they are mostly worried about their kids,” Ebys said.
With rain letting up and water levels receding, residents were able to return to their homes to assess damages, and the county closed the emergency shelter.
“There was no reason to keep the shelter open,” Weed said.
Pam Jordan, a spokeswoman for the Anne Arundel County Land Use and Environment Office, said the county was still doing damage assessment, but she wasn?t aware of any homes in the county that were ruined because of flood waters.
“We didn?t get the surge predicted,” she said.
The county said it would closely monitor the weather and make services available to residents when needed.
Maryland City residents said they?d heed the warnings. Renee Hall, 41, said she learned to fear inclement weather after a 2001 tornado devastated College Park.
“I?m not dumb. I?m not taking a chance this time,” she said.
