DC Dopers - Where Does It Flash Flood (That You Know Of)?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I chase news and we are expecting flash floods, well, for the rest of the summer. I have a handy list of spots from the Fire PIO’s of Montgomery County & Prince Georges County (Pete Piringer and Mark Brady, two of the best).

It occurs to me I’d like to hear of more spots that anyone knows about; cross streets or hundred blocks of roads preferrable.

Here’s the list I have so far:

ROADS IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY SUBJECT TO PERIODIC FLOODING:

DOWN-COUNTY AREAS

MD 29 (Columbia Pike) at Paint Branch - N. of White Oak
MD 185 (Conn. Ave) at Rock Creek - S. of Kensington
MD 190 (River Road) at Cabin John Creek - Potomac
MD 193 (Univ. Blvd) at Sligo Creek - Wheaton
MD 586 (Viers Mill Rd) at Rock Creek - S. of Twinbrook Pkwy.
Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park - Kensington-Chevy Chase
Sligo Creek Pkwy - Silver Spring-Takoma Park

UP-COUNTY AREAS

MD 97 (Georgia Ave) at Reddy Branch - N. of Brookeville
MD 124 (Woodfield Rd) at Goshen Branch and at Gr. Seneca Creek - N. of Brink Rd.
MD 117 (Clopper Rd) at Gr. Seneca Creek - W. of Gaithersburg
MD 117 (Clopper Rd) at Little Seneca Creek - E. of Boyds
MD 355 (Frederick Rd) at Little Seneca Creek - W. of Brink
MD 121 (Clarksburg Rd) near Little Seneca Lake - N. of Boyds
MD 118 (Germantown Rd) at Great Seneca Creek - S. of Germantown
River Rd and Berryville Rd at Seneca Creek
Blunt Road at Great Seneca Creek - S. of Brink Rd.
Davis Mill Rd at Great Seneca Creek - N. of Gaithersburg
Brighton Dam Rd at Hawlings River - NE of Brookeville
Goldmine Rd at Hawlings River - E of Olney
Zion Rd at Hawlings River - E. of Laytonsville
Hoyles Mill Rd at ford of Little Seneca Creek - Germantown, west of the soccer complex
Loghouse Rd at Magruder Branch - S. of Damascus
Elton Farm Rd at Haights Branch - N. of Sunshine
Howard Chapel Rd at Haights Branch - N. of Sunshine
White’s Ferry Road and River Road - White’s Ferry

Prince George’s Roadways Known to Flood During Heavy Rains

Areas and roadways in Prince George’s County that are prone to flash flooding include:
Brock Bridge Road near Laurel-Bowie Road (RT 197) Laurel
Areas along Route 1 and Main Street in Laurel
Baltimore Ave and Ammendale Road in Beltsville
Sunnyside Avenue between Rhode Island Ave and Edmonston Rd in Beltsville
Piney Branch Rd and New Hampshire in Adelphi
Portions of Riverdale Road in Riverdale Park
Governors Bridge Road at Anne Arundel/Prince George’s County border.
Water Street in Upper Marlboro
Marlboro Pike and Largo Rd in Upper Marlboro
Livingston Road and Oxon Hill Road in Ft Washington
Livingston Road and Palmer Road in Fort Washington
And of course anecdotes and stories are welcome too!

Thanks in advance!

2

By “chase news” you mean you are looking for places to go when it rains really hard and watch people get swept away?

Or are you trying to avoid those areas to increase your personal safety?

3

Four Mile Run sometimes floods so bad that it takes out the bike trail’s bridges.

4

I work at the local CBS affiliate in Washington DC shooting news.

We’ve had some flooding today in various spots and I was looking to find out if any Dopers had knowledge of likely areas.

Thanks Skywatcher!

5

I was drinking in DC tonight and kept getting flood warnings on my phone. Not sure where the issues are tonight.

I did once try to take a taxi down Connecticut to DCA when Beach Dr. and Rock Creek were closed due to flooding. That was a mess. I only made the flight because it was delayed.

6

Not quite a flash flood (I think) but a couple years ago, when we had a nasty nasty rainstorm just before afternoon rush (I think it was the same one where someone was filmed tubing down Lee Highway), I was going from Centreville (route 28) to a destination near Springfield.

My usual route was to go a mile up 28, get on 66 east 1 exit, then get onto the Fairfax County Parkway.

That day, I was worried about dealing with 66 in the heavy rain so I thought I’d take 29 over instead (“north” though it’s really more “east” just there).

We got about a half mile, and I saw standing water ahead, and decided I’d better heed the warnings about standing water - so I made a left turn into a parking lot. I was waiting to make the right turn to get back onto 29 heading to 28, and as I waited, I saw a bus drive through that standing water.

As it exited the standing water, I saw water pouring out of the door. Yeah, it was deep enough to come up to the floorboards of the bus. I’m very, very glad I didn’t attempt it.

On that same road home, I needed to drop someone off at her house off of Sydenstricker. The usual way I went after that was to go down a road paralleling the parkway, and get back on just east of there (Hooes Road - dips down and crosses over Pohick Creek).

I didn’t even attempt that - I backtracked and got straight onto the Parkway.

As part of that same storm, I gather at least one park-and-ride lot (not Metro, but for buses) flooded pretty badly.

7

In Arlington, Washington Blvd. just east of Patrick Henry Drive has one of those high water areas. Regularly collects enough water to cover the roadway, sidewalk, and much of the grass. I’d guesstimate 10" deep or so.