The Weather Outside is Frightful

This is a local story, something I don't usually post, but I hope it gives you a flavor of the incredible flooding we're dealing with. There is more rain in the forecast for the rest of the week. A number of federal agencies are closed for the rest of the week due to flooding and power outages. We've been through hurricanes that were less damaging.

3 Dead in Frederick County Flooding, Evacuation Ordered Near Rockville
Dam Threatens to Fail, Forcing More Than 2,000 From Their Homes

By Debbi Wilgoren, Nikita Stewart and Fredrick Kunkle
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, June 28, 2006; 10:08 AM

Two men and a woman were killed last night in Frederick County after being washed out of the back of a pickup truck that had just rescued them from rising waters not far from Interstate 270 near Middle Creek, officials said.

They were the first fatalities reported during six days of record-setting storms that have devastated the Washington area, washing out scores of roads, flooding hundreds of homes and forcing the evacuation of more than 2,200 people early this morning from neighborhoods around Lake Needwood in central Montgomery County.

Also in Frederick County, emergency crews continued searching for two teenagers, ages 14 and 16, who disappeared yesterday evening after going to explore rain-swollen Little Pipe Creek. Helicopters and search dogs were deployed shortly after daybreak, near where a bicycle used by one of the youths had been found.

The sun was shining as Washington woke up this morning, and forecasters said the rainy weather seemed to be tapering off because a stationary storm front parked over the region since last week had begun to move out. But with the ground saturated and accumulated rainfall still flowing down creeks and rivers, the morning commute again was disrupted, several downtown museums and federal government buildings remained closed and emergency officials warned that flooding remained a major concern.

Officials said the Potomac will continue to rise today and probably crest tomorrow. Meteorologists said a few residual thunderstorms were possible this afternoon.

The three people killed in Frederick had been stranded in their vehicle by floodwaters about 9 p.m. Tuesday night, close to the junction of Route 17 and U.S. 40 in Myersville.

"Someone in a pickup truck picked them up," said Frederick County Fire and Rescue Services spokesman Michael Dmuchowski. "They encountered high water again and they were swept out."