Water Main Break...

公告

I work at alivenotdead.com. Please check out my blogs and leave a comment!

BLOG

上一個BLOG |

下一個BLOG |

全部

Water Main Break...
2008-12-24 4:44AM / 標準BLOG / USA / 會員可以看
10個評論

I got home late from the office, almost midnight. I turned on the TV here in Hong Kong to find some exciting footage of a water rescue of some stranded motorists. It turns out its not from a hurricane or flood, its from a huge water main break... flooding the road and stranding a few drivers in a torrential flood.

Video: http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=fLweoOmYiYo

They said its in Bethesda, MD. They had to use rescue crews and helicopters to get everyone out. (and its like below 20 degrees F / -5 degrees C there right now too!) I didn't quite recognize it from the helicopter footage but something looked strangely familiar... I searched online and found out it was on River Road near Bradley Blvd... about 2 miles from where I grew up, where my parents still live. I called my parents to make sure they were ok.
Motorists Rescued After Massive Water Main Break

Aging Pipe Bursts, Sending Wall of Water onto River Road

Video
Helicopter Rescues Stranded Passengers
A Maryland State Police helicopter rescues two stranded passengers due to a water main break on River Road in Bethesda on Tuesday.
» LAUNCH VIDEO PLAYER

By Debbi Wilgoren
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 23, 2008; 12:05 PM

A massive underground pipe rupture flooded River Road with four feet of rapidly swirling water this morning -- trapping motorists, blocking a major commuter artery and leading to the dramatic helicopter rescue of a woman and a child from one of the vehicles.
This Story
The break caused "widespread water outages" in school buildings across lower Montgomery County, officials said, affecting the heating system in some cases as well. As a result, all schools will close 2 1/2 hours early this afternoon, the school system announced just after 11 a.m. More than 100 customers were without water, a spokesman for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission said.

The spokesman, Jim Neustadt, said the rupture did not affect the safety of the county water supply.

The aging, 66-inch water pipe burst shortly before 8 a.m., sending a four-foot wall of water onto River Road near Congressional Country Club in Bethesda and trapping 15 people in about a dozen vehicles. Most got out of their cars on their own and reached dry land with help from rescue crews, boats and ropes, officials said.
Full Story Here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/12/23/ST2008122300848.html
My parents are fine, my dad said the water pressure was low because they've had to turn off the water pipes trying to reduce the flow til they can turn off the pipe.

This isn't the first major water + car disaster in this area of course. Back when I was in high school there was a huge drainage pipe collapse that washed 60+ cars down towards the Potomac river... :-P

BLOG評論 (10)

添加評論請先登錄或免費註冊
Flagday
留言於2008-12-27 10:22AM [举报]

Totally bizarre.
blee
留言於2008-12-27 10:08AM [举报]

Haha I saw that on the Washington Post and was thinking 'hey that's where we all used to live'. Can you imagine that happening? I heard kids all missed school that day so at least something good came of it :P
blee
留言於2008-12-27 10:06AM [举报]

BTW - that old house was sold a few years back
Etchy
留言於2008-12-25 3:15AM

flagday - the one in 1989 was totally bizarre. it was the parking lot outside a dance hall. there were heavy rains during a folk dance event and an old creek that went under the parking lot through a large drain pipe got clogged and flooded out, the weight of the backed up water blew apart the pipe or something and most of the parking lot and the cars on it got flushed down the creek bed towards the river (9 of which made it all the way down into the river, which up this part is not a placid navigable waterway). But amazingly cause everyone is was inside dancing, no one was hurt!
Flagday
留言於2008-12-25 1:04AM [举报]

These poor people are not like the idjits who go out in torrential rains with flood predictions and then get caught. How frightening.

Getting swept toward the Potomac? Whew, that must've been a nightmare.
janechu
留言於2008-12-24 12:35PM [举报]

wow!!! that's pretty crazy... I am glad your parents are okay...
Etchy
留言於2008-12-24 10:59AM

actually now that i think about it, its actually closer to rottendoubt's old house...
rottendoubt
留言於2008-12-24 10:18AM [举报]

doh ... ya brings back memories
radwynn
留言於2008-12-24 10:06AM [举报]

Oops... Anyway, I'm glad to know your parents are OK...
But it's too bad... =(
andy_lau_spain
留言於2008-12-24 4:45AM [举报]

wow, glad ur folks are okay...
I am not used to that kind of stuff at all... ^^U