Commuters trapped in flash flood as water main breaks on River Road in Bethesda

23 December 2008, 8:08 am

Rescue workers rush to save commuters

By:  Sabrina Wartnaby

BETHESDA, Md. – A 66 inch water main broke this morning near a Bethesda Country Club on a commuter road just outside Washington.  Emergency crews worked to rescue motorists from five foot deep, hypothermic floodwaters in the 20 degree weather. 

Television crews accompanied rescue helicopters and boats as they rushed to free commuters from their vehicles by lowering baskets and pulling them out with rescue equipment as the flood gushed past. 

Approximately one dozen people were rescued from the swiftly moving waters according to Pete Piringer spokesman for the Montgomery County Fire Department.   The speed and force of the water complicated rescue efforts and several victims had to be treated for hypothermia after their escape.  

It is still unknown where the pipe was broken but the flood was on River Road and a spokesman for the Suburban Sanitary Commission indicated that the valves needed to stop the flow were underwater.

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