On Tuesday, August 4, 2020, Southern Maryland suffered severe flooding, three confirmed separate Tornadoes, and the impacts from Hurricane Isaias.
St. Mary’s County Volunteer Fire and Rescue personnel handled a total of 134 calls throughout the day which included multiple water rescues, structure collapses, a fatal motor vehicle accident, many trees and wires down, and road failures.
We thank all our fire and rescue responders and wonderful workers at the Sheriff’s Offices, SMECO, METCOM, Maryland Department of Transportation and State Highway Administration along with the assistance from Cusic Mechanic & Towing, JB Weather, Guy Brothers Marine, and countless other Good Samaritans who assisted others and our First Responders.
All photos are courtesy of the Mechanicsville, Seventh District, Waldorf, La Plata, Hughesville and Tenth District Volunteer Fire Departments. NAS Patuxent River Fire Department. Cusic Mechanic and Towing,
All Active Road Closures
————————————————————————————————————————————————-
At approximately 7:30 a.m., police, fire and rescue personnel responded to the 5200 block of Gallant Green Road for the reported occupied vehicle stuck in floodwater.
Crews arrived on the scene to find a minivan with water coming up to the door handle with one occupancy still inside the vehicle.
Firefighters were prepared prior to arrival with wet suites and rescue rope, with the crew rescuing the driver in under ten minutes. The driver was uninjured and refused medical assistance
————————————————————————————————————————————————-
At 8:40 a.m., Charles County 911 center received multiple calls advising two vehicles were swept from the roadway by floodwater in the 5600 block of Brandywine Road.
Crews from Charles County, Prince George’s County, and St. Mary’s County responded to the scene and upon arrived, units were flagged down by a witness who observed the vehicles get swept off the road by the fast moving water. They were able to give Chief 2 a landmark on where the vehicles were last seen going into the woods. The witness also advised that a bystander was trying to help and was also stuck in the water. While Rescue Squad 2 members were getting prepared to assist with the water rescue, yelling could be heard from the victims who were trapped on top of vehicles.
As more units and mutual aid resources arrived, crews confirmed two vehicles were off the roadway along with one Good Samaritan who tried to help prior to Fire/EMS arriving.
Truck 12 from Waldorf was able to utilize the aerial stick and rescue the bystander who was stuck in a tree approximately 80 feet from dry land. One male occupant was located on the roof of his vehicle with a female near her vehicle hanging onto a tree limb. The current was too strong for anyone to attempt any rescue on foot with no PFD or life saving equipment. Airboat 8 from the Tenth District VFD launched and made the successful rescues of the two occupants. Both victims were evaluated on the scene, with the female being transported to an area hospital for a check-up. Both males refused care on the scene.
Prior to terminating command, Chief 2 requested Maryland State Police Helicopter Trooper 2 to do a fly over as a secondary search to confirm no other occupants were stranded in the water.
Maryland State Police Troopers from the La Plata Barrack responded to the scene and are handling the incidents investigation.
All personnel operated on the scene for three hours, no other injuries reported.
————————————————————————————————————————————————-
At 7:56 a.m., firefighters from Seventh District and Hollywood responded to the area of Bushwood Road and Kayla’s Lane in Bushwood, for the reported vehicle stuck in floodwaters.
Crews arrived on the scene to find a single vehicle unoccupied in the water. Firefighters were able to make contact with the owner of the vehicle who was able to safely exit the vehicle and the water and left the vehicle stranded. No injuries were reported.
————————————————————————————————————————————————-
At 10:33 a.m., fire and rescue personnel responded to the area of Budds Creek Road at Colton Point Road, for the reported occupied vehicle trapped in floodwater.
Firefighters reported the water was rapidly rising on Budds Creek Road and a observed a single vehicle with a single occupant trapped in the water. Raft 5 was deployed with four rescuers who were able to removed the operator and bring them back to dry land. No injuries were reported.
————————————————————————————————————————————————-
At 11:19 a.m., Firefighters on standby at the Seventh District Volunteer Fire Department received a call at the station stating a vehicle had possibly been swept away by flood water at the same location on Budds Creek Road as the call just half and hour before hand.
Brush 5A with Raft 5 along with Engine 52 were still in the area and arrived on scene within three minutes. Chief 5 made contact with bystanders who witnessed a vehicle with at least two occupants be swept over the guard rail and into St. Clement’s Creek. Engine 52 was on the opposite side of the water as Brush 5A and made contact with the owner of Guy Brothers Marine. Guy Brothers hooked up a boat and brought it to the scene. Raft 5 was deployed and first pulled two civilians from the water who were trying to assist with rescuing the victims in the vehicle.
Both Raft 5 and the Guy Brothers Marine vessel anchored to telephone poles utilizing long lines to make their way to the occupants. Chief 5 requested a helicopter but there were none available due to other incidents utilizing State Police Helicopters Trooper 2, and Trooper 7.
Visual contact was made with the vehicle occupants who had managed to exit the vehicle and get to the rear hatch of the SUV. Using the utility poles, the boat was gradually able to get to the victims to pull them on board. Both occupants of the vehicle were brought to dry land.
No injuries were reported and all victims refused ems care.
While attempting to make it back to the Station, Engine 52 had to take multiple different routes due to flooded and dangerous roads, firefighters came across a large loader that was moving a tree from the roadway and pulled over to assist in blocking the road. As crews were blocking the road waiting for the tree to be removed, the road collapsed underneath of the loader.
Luckily, the operator of the equipment was able to exit self-extricate without injury.
Engine 52 also assisted on scene in the area of Maypole Road with Leonardtown, and Hollywood Volunteer Fire Departments with evacuating several people from flooded homes.
————————————————————————————————————————————————-
At 11:10 a.m., firefighters from Hollywood, Leonardtown, and Seventh District responded to the 23200 block of Maypole Road in Leonardtown, for an assist citizen.
A 911 caller reported the entire area was flooded with the water threatening the residence. The 911 caller then requested assistance in safely removing a 90-year-old female from the residence.
Raft 7 from Hollywood VFD responded and made way to the residence and made contact with two victims and safety rescued them from the residence.
Crews operated on the scene for three hours, and made contact with other residences due to the high level of flooding threatening the area.
No injuries were reported.
————————————————————————————————————————————————-
At 2:19 p.m., fire and rescue personnel responded to the 26000 block of Budds Creek Road in Mechanicsville, for the allergic reaction medical call.
The 911 caller was a 43-year-old male who reported he was standing in the floodwater and was stung by a bee and having an allergic reaction.
Crews arrived on the scene at approximately 2:36 p.m., due to closed roads and flooding, crews had an extended response time. Upon arrival, crews reported CPR was in progress.
The victim was pronounced deceased on the scene approximately 30 minutes later.
