Sunday’s late-night storms forced closures of at least two Montgomery County roads Monday, making for a morning commute that was more treacherous than usual.
U.S. 29 (Colesville Road) between New Hampshire Avenue and University Boulevard in Silver Spring and Riffle Ford and Black Rock roads in Gaithersburg were closed Monday, said MontgomeryCounty police spokeswoman Blanca Kling. Riffle Ford and Black Rock roads are expected to reopen Tuesday, weather permitting, Kling said. U.S. 29 was expected to reopen in time for the Monday evening commute.
“Since the waters are high in Gaithersburg and since there’s mud on [U.S.] 29, it’s dangerous to begin with,” Kling said.
As much as six inches of rain fell in parts of Montgomery and Prince George’s counties Sunday. But neither reported any major storm-related accidents.
“We’re telling people to really watch it, be careful,” said Charlie Gischlar, spokesman for the State Highway Administration. “The ground is saturated now. We’re going to start to see more and more trees fall with new events.”
Road crews prepared during the weekend to clean debris from storms, Gischlar added.
“It’s too much water, with too little place to go,” he said.
Rescue crews in Montgomery used three boats to rescue about 30 residents trapped inside the recreation center at Meadowbrook Park in Chevy Chase because of four-foot surges from Rock Creek at about 10 p.m. Sunday, a fire spokesman said.
Prince George’s appeared to have fared better during Sunday’s deluge. No road closures were reported Monday, but inspectors were inspecting roads and bridges to be sure, Department of Public Works and Transportation spokeswoman Susan Hubbard said.
