# Crazy flooding in our area **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 20, 2025, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112 "2025-07-20T14:44:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/1 "2025-07-20T14:44:09Z")
We live just outside Washington, DC on the Maryland side, and got around 5 inches of rain in a fairly short period of time yesterday afternoon/evening. People living next to a nearby creek were advised to evacuate, and there were some people who had to be rescued when their cars stalled in deep water. Fortunately we live on higher ground. Our house was built on the side of a small hill, so water didn’t really collect. We did have a little water come in from a small leak above our front door, but it wasn’t much. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/2 "2025-07-20T15:16:34Z")
It’s good that you were lucky. I have been getting rainy weather fairly frequently–which is unusual as July and August seldom have much rain. Previous to reading this thread I was just reading a Washington Post article: **A new era of floods has arrived. America isn’t prepared:** A Washington Post investigation reveals why so few people evacuated in the state hit hardest by last year’s deadliest disaster. [about Hurricane Helene] [https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/07/07/hurricane-helene-evacuation-north-carolina-warnings/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/07/07/hurricane-helene-evacuation-north-carolina-warnings/) Unpaywalled at: [https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/a-new-era-of-floods-has-arrived-america-isn-t-prepared/ar-AA1IW0Hm](https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/a-new-era-of-floods-has-arrived-america-isn-t-prepared/ar-AA1IW0Hm) ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/3 "2025-07-20T15:40:37Z")
We must be neighbors! I had just walked with my kids to the [golf course snack bar](https://imgur.com/gallery/golf-course-storm-mOPSvtE) up the street when, I decided to just leg it back rather than wait it, we all made it back fine though soaked to the bone. A few minutes after we got back we got an emergency alert on our phones, and the creek by our house rose by 10 feet! (The flow was [three orders of magnitude](https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/USGS-01650800/#dataTypeId=continuous-00060-0&period=P7D&showMedian=true) more than usual) There is no way we’d have made it back if we’d have tried to wait it out, even if we’d got a ride back. Fortunately our only casualty was one of my kid’s tricycle, which got left by the trail. I found it this morning: [[Album] Tricycle after flood ![](https://i.imgur.com/ApdIwCo.jpeg?fb "Tricycle after flood") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/eNkgZtx) Feeling pretty fortunate esp what happened in Texas ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/4 "2025-07-20T15:50:21Z")
Get a grip, sheeple! There is no flooding, it’s just a little dampness. You are imagining things. And stop posting those AI-generated images. Climate change IS NOT happening and if it is, it’s not caused by people, and if it is caused by people, we’ll deport all of the bastards and that will be the end of it. Carry on. 🚣🏽 ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/5 "2025-07-20T15:55:36Z")
I assume that’s Sligo Creek. We’re a mile or two away, toward Takoma Park. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/6 "2025-07-20T16:14:34Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > I assume that’s Sligo Creek Yup we are SDMB neighbors! ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/7 "2025-07-20T16:19:39Z")
I went running in Rock Creek this morning (I normally have enough sense to stay away the day after a heavy rain). Clear signs the creek had overflowed its banks and flooded the trail. As of this morning, the trail was at least 4’ above the creek, which was running 2’ above normal (based on rocks that I can walk to under normal circumstances). ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/8 "2025-07-20T16:27:05Z")
Our area got nailed a couple weeks ago by Chantal. We happened to be out of town at the time, but returned to find that the windshield of our van had leaked and the floor in the front was wet, so we had to dry that out and reseal the windshield. We’d already had two of our Leyland cypresses come down and squish the fence. There’s been so much more rain this year - I’ve been here for 25 years and cannot remember this much rain ever happening at this time of year. We were lucky - two of the shopping centers we go to in Chapel Hill were inundated and most of the stores are closed. Some of them will not be able to reopen for at least a couple of months. People who get city water here in town were on a boil water advisory for several days as the pump station got flooded. The parks near the river are all closed. There was/is debris everywhere. The river rose to a record high of 25.63 feet. The river flow was almost 500 times normal. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/9 "2025-07-20T17:15:42Z")
My sister lives in Carrboro, and there was some flooding near her condo. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/10 "2025-07-20T17:28:29Z")
Carrboro lost one of their public works facilities and everything in it to that storm. ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/11 "2025-07-20T19:24:48Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > We were lucky - two of the shopping centers we go to in Chapel Hill were inundated and most of the stores are closed. Some of them will not be able to reopen for at least a couple of months. This area has flooded before, but this was worse in terms of the extent and depth of the flooding. I hope the local businesses can make it through this (especially the yarn store, which has been flooded before). I’ll be glad if we get through hurricane season without anything worse happening. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/12 "2025-07-20T19:32:44Z")
I remember it flooding on previous occasions, but never this badly - and this is after a considerable amount of (expensive) remediation had been done. Don’t build your stuff on a floodplain, people! ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2025, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/13 "2025-07-20T19:42:29Z")
I saw the pics, we used to live in Takoma Park right by Sligo Creek. I can’t believe how much water they got. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/14 "2025-07-21T16:51:39Z")
I live in St. Mary’s County (tho I’m on a cruise at the moment) and our house is one of the highest elevations in the neighborhood at 118’, plus the yard slopes away. I know there are areas of the county that flood as water moves from DC and environs to the bay, but we’re spared. On the other hand, mowing should be interesting when we get home at the end of the week. Have there been high winds with the storms? Should I brace for a yard full of branches? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/15 "2025-07-21T17:06:45Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Have there been high winds with the storms? Should I brace for a yard full of branches? No not particularly, just super heavy rain, in our area at least ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2025, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/16 "2025-07-21T21:34:54Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > We were lucky - two of the shopping centers we go to in Chapel Hill were inundated and most of the stores are closed. Some of them will not be able to reopen for at least a couple of months. I was supposed to be getting a massage at Massage Envy in Eastgate Mall tomorrow. My back and neck have been bothering me for the past week. I am not happy. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/17 "2025-07-22T02:02:44Z")
Can you get yourself to one of their other locations? I know a few folks who are going into Trader Joe’s withdrawal since the closest TJ’s to us now is about 40 minutes away in Morrisville. ---
**Author:** ![MagicEyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/18 "2025-07-22T02:04:45Z")
I do miss Trader Joe’s, but I can wait until they reopen. Rise might be gone for good. If anyone in Chapel Hill is pining for Aldi, go to the one in Hillsborough. It’s a lot better than the one in Durham. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/19 "2025-07-22T02:17:38Z")
I’d suggest making an appointment with Ms. P, but 5 hours is a long time to drive for a massage. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2025, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112/20 "2025-07-22T13:09:20Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Yup we are SDMB neighbors! And I’m not too far away either. I’m up in Gaithersburg, and the day you got flooded, we got nothing really. I think it rained for 5-10 minutes. A bit later I started seeing photos of the flooding and it was nuts. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crazy-flooding-in-our-area/1021112.md?page=2)