Overnight Storms Drench Germantown

Flash floods that soaked Montgomery County overnight Sunday resulted in minor reports of downed wires and trees in Germantown, fire and police officials said Monday.

The National Weather Service had issued a severe weather warning Sunday for Montgomery and Prince Georges County, Md., warning of deep standing water, wind gusts of 40 to 50 miles per hour and claps of thunder and lightening.

Montgomery County Police were dispatched to reports of downed wires and tree limbs overnight at Germantown Road, at Brink and Laytonsville roads, and at Barnesville and Mt. Ephraim roads, said Montgomery County Police Spokeswoman Angela Cruz.

But no major incidents were reported in Germantown, Cruz said.

Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service spokesman, Assistant Chief Scott Graham, said fire officials were still compiling reports from the overnight storms countywide — including that of a vehicle that got stuck in high water in Gaithersburg. 

Graham said the driver was rescued with out incident. There were no reports of major injuries or deaths as a result of Sunday night’s storm, Graham said.

Graham said he was not able to provide specific information for Germantown.

Bursts of lightening appear to streak across the sky in a YouTube video apparently filmed at Route 118 and Clopper Road at around 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

As of Monday morning, neither Graham nor the National Weather Service were unable to confirm specific reports of major damage due to lightening strikes in Germantown and Gaithersburg, and said more information would be available later Monday.

Storm-related power outages were reported in Germantown overnight and had been restored, said Pepco spokesman Clay Anderson. Anderson said he was unable to provide specific data for Germantown but said Monday that he would have more information as the day progressed.

The North Potomac-Darnestown Patch that storms had knocked out power for 93 residents mostly around Winsap Drive, off of Quince Orchard Road.

Monday morning, 7,000 households and businesses in Montgomery County were without electricity — the majority in Silver Spring and other southern portions of the county, Anderson said.

Brandon Peloquin, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Baltimore-Washington, D.C., division, said that only two to three inches were needed to cause flood conditions last night. 

Germantown received 2.4 inches of rain in 24 hours, Peloquin said, with other areas closer to the D.C. suburbs receiving more than 3 inches.

Peloquin said more rain was in Germantown’s forecast today. But he said there was good news — the weather is expected to dry out on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The bad news? Showers are expected to move in Thursday and Friday.

“It’s too early to tell if they’ll be heavy rain producers,” Peloquin said.