The elementary school sits near Georges Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River, which county officials said remains “the most critical area of concern.”
WESTERNPORT, Md. — One hundred fifty students and 50 adults had to be evacuated by boat from an Allegany County elementary school Tuesday, according to county officials, as heavy rain continued to cause widespread flooding in western Maryland.
It took 15 rescue boat trips to rescue the entire student body and faculty of Westernport Elementary School as flooding got so severe, water started breaching the second floor of the school building, Allegany County officials said Tuesday afternoon.
The elementary school sits near Georges Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River, which county officials said remains “the most critical area of concern.”
Alley Wade, whose 8- and 10-year-old sons attend Westernport, told WUSA9 anchors Lesli Foster and Lorenzo Hall that she spent most of the afternoon anxiously watching the floodwaters rise; unable to get to her children as the roads were closed off by local police.
“I asked if I could walk through the water to get to them, and they told me that wasn’t safe because all the water was pushing the asphalt around and creating these big holes, and they didn’t know where the holes were,” Wade said. “So, it was scary and frustrating.”
Quinton Wade, one of Alley Wade’s sons who was rescued from Westernport Elementary, told WUSA9 that he and his classmates watched from the second floor as water rushed into the building.
“The first floor started to flood and there’s only a tiny bit left of the playground,” Quinton said.
The elementary school student told Foster and Hall that many of his friends and classmates were terrified during the rescue.
“A lot of them were crying and worrying and panicking,” Quinton said. “… It was very wet and there was a lot of trash in the water.”
Alley Wade was eventually reunited with her sons after rescue boats brought her children home. She said that she was able to watch from afar as her other son got onto the boat.
“It looked the ocean, it was very rough. … We yelled so he could see us even though we were across the way from him, even though he was across the way from us,” Wade said. “We never got to see Quinton get loaded on, because at that time they said they were taking students elsewhere.”
Westernport, with a population of about 1,800, sits on the Maryland panhandle’s border with West Virginia. Crews from neighboring Garrett, Washington and Preston Counties helped Allegany County Emergency Services with their rescue effort at Westernport Elementary. Crews from Montgomery are on the way to help with six swift water personnel and two boats. They will be joined by two more boat teams from Howard County.
Allegany County officials said Tuesday night that “a significant portion of Westernport has been evacuated.” Mountain Ridge High School in Frostburg has served as a shelter in place location for residents, according to the Allegany County Department of Emergency Services.
As showers continued to impact the Washington metro area, WUSA9 meteorologists warned Tuesday that a Flood Watch remained in effect for areas west of I-95 in Maryland, D.C. and all of Northern Virginia.
On Tuesday night, Allegany County Public Schools announced classes are canceled on Wednesday. The news didn’t come as a surprise to Alley Wade.
“All the teachers and school staff, their cars were underwater,” Wade said.
