Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-07-22
Flash Floods
Recede After
Drowning of6

NONOOO Nu0CI
Drowning of6
Rain swollen waters of the
Washington area were diminish
ing rapidly today in the wake
of flash floods that took six lives,
washed out several small bridges
and closed a number of roads.
A day and night of mostly fair
weather, broken only by scattered
showers last night, gave rivers
and creeks a chance to carry off
the heavy downpour which fell
Friday and Friday night. Today
was to be continued mostly fair.
Most flooding was in small
streams of Maryland and east
ern Virginia, the result of local
rainfall up to 6 inches. IN the
Potomac River, high tide last
night ran about 2 feet above nor
NAL, but there was little flood
ing. At the Letter Gauge above
Chain Bridge, the Potomac rose
to near flood stage before sub
siding.
Lost in Two Accidents
The six persons who drowned
were victims of two separate
accidents in Montgomery County.
Three men and two women
died when two automobiles were
swept off Wightman road near
Laytonsville, Md. into Little Sem
eca Greek They were identified
as Rachel Stewart, So; Ann Bal
ley, 80; John H. Gray, 80; and
Leonard Beckwith. 81: all of
Germantown, and Harold, %, OF
Gaithersburg. All five were COL
ored
The sixth victim was a Rock
vile Md volunteer fireman,
who persisted in an attempted
rescue near Wheaton. The dead
man was Elwood H. Smith, 80, of
1915 Stanley avenue, Rockville.
He was working with a crew of
t1remen checking two abandoned
automobiles near the bank of
Rock Greek when he was swept
away.
2 In Crew Saved
Another fireman in the same
crew, Pvt. Alfred E. johnson, 81,
of $50 Brent road, Rockville,
rescued two others who were
swept into the torrent. They are
Eugene Helpert and Lee Wood.
Pvt. Johnsos was anchor man on
a long rope which the men were
clinging to in their attempt to
reach the cars. He seized the
two survivors when they lost
their grip and helped them to a
tree.
Boiling waters of the Patuxent
River spilled over the south
bound section of Route / at
Laurel yesterday when the gates
: of the Rocky Gorge Dam were
opened to relieve the tremendous
! pressure behind the dam.
Controlmen at the dam said
: the river was splitting out over
its banks upstream of the dam
! and that the locks were opened
to lower the level of the rising
, water.
The waters of the already
swollen river rose even higher
, with the opening of the gates
and the river washed over the
highway. The Maryland State
Highway Patrol said the busy
roadway was closed last nigh;
even after the water had recedec
until the highway can be in.
, spected for erosion and possible
weakening of bridge carrying
. traffic over the stream.
Rains Falls UnevenIy
The torrential rains fell un.
evenly on the area. In Washing
ton the official rainfall measured
.95 inches. But Sc inches was
recorded near Hagerstown
, Other measurements were AIS
inches at Baltimore, 4 inches al
HarperS Ferry, w. Va, and 3.92
b. inches at Waynesboro, Va.
: At its highest point, the swol-
len creek swept over both the
; north and south lanes of the
parkway between the Massachu-
sets avenue and P street bridges
5 Fairfax Bridges Out
In Fairfax County, five bridges
were still out last night closing
several back roads. All main
routes were clear in nearby Vir-
ginia.
I In Montgomery County, hard
er hit by the flash floods, dam
age was estimated at $3.50 900 to
100000 by Mason Butcher
county public works director
Five major bridges we're washed
out. the biggest a 130-foot span
over Seneca Greek at Black
Rock road, and a number of
roads were closed by high water
Most Of Montgomery's damage
was confined to the upper part
OF the county. particularly on
Seneca Creek. But in the nearby
area, two main arteries were
closed. They were Kensington
parkway and Connecticut avenue
where it crosses Rock Greek.
Other closings were on Jones
Bridge road and on Cedar lane
between Connecticut and Wis
consin avenues.
In Prince Georges County, the
Peace Cross area was heavily
flooded. Nearby roads were under
as much as 5 feet of water and a
MIN her If small hY.fdoa. .,,o..