At least 25 people voluntarily evacuated to a south Anne Arundel County shelter in the Brockbridge area of Maryland City as the Patuxent River inched closer to their homes Tuesday.
“You can see it rising every minute. It?s scary,” said Jennifer Blasy, 14.
“They?re very nice. We have food, a place to sleep and they?re taking care of us and our animals,” said Marjorie Crawford, Jennifer?s neighbor in the Parkway Village Mobile Home Park.
The National Weather Service flash-flood watch continues through today for the Baltimore area as high water levels for the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay swell 2 to 3 feet.
Rainfall totals are hard to nail down as isolated showers and downpours move across the region.
“The actual rainfall is changing so drastically, there is no exact number,” said Rhonda Wardlaw, spokeswoman for the Anne Arundel County Emergency Management Division.
A voluntary evacuation is in effect for homes in low-lying areas.
“We?re expecting three to six more inches of rain,” Wardlaw said.
The Emergency Management Division received seven phone calls for rescues and pulled four people out of the water by Tuesday afternoon.
Most rescues involve people ignoring signs and going on roads that are either closed or have high water levels, Wardlaw said.
Carroll County measured 7.4 inches of rain in June, most of that in the last few days.
Harford County rescuers saved two people, said Ernie Christ, emergency services manager.
“We?ve had lots of calls for automobiles in water,” Christ said. “These have been abandoned cars that have been swept away or cars that have been previously parked and swept away with rising water levels.”
Rescue workers urged people not to drive into standing water on roads, especially around bridges or low-lying areas.
A voluntary evacuation is in effect for the Broad Creek watershed area, and people downstream are being asked to leave their summer cabins.
“We are a little concerned because of the spread of the rain,” said Howard County spokeswoman Victoria Goodman. “The ground is already saturated and Liberty Reservoir is at capacity and spilling over.”
Staff writers Karl B. Hille and Luke Broadwater contributed to this report.
