ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. – The body of a 12-year-old boy was found Wednesday morning after he was swept away by floodwaters Tuesday evening, according officials in Albermarle County, Virginia.
That comes after Flash Flood Emergencies were issued in Virginia and Maryland on Tuesday when a slow-moving but potent storm system that slammed the Southeast with torrential rain and severe weather moved over the mid-Atlantic and Appalachians.
The agency warned of life-threatening flash flooding of low-water crossings, small creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses.
Albemarle County Fire Rescue said multiple agencies responded around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday after a 911 caller reported the incident.
“This is a heartbreaking outcome,” said ACFR Chief Dan Eggleston on Wednesday.
Flash Flood Emergencies were issued for nearby Greene and Madison counties in Virginia on Tuesday evening.
People were rescued from two cars that got stuck in rapidly rising water in Greene County, according to the local sheriff’s office. Officials had to close roads due to flooding and fallen trees.
Allegany County, Maryland, was the first flash flood emergency of the day when waters rose quickly near Westernport.
Persistent storms dropped 2.5 to 5 inches of rain in just hours around Westernport, Luke and Barton in Allegany County, Maryland, which triggered dozens of water rescues.
The Georges Creek overflowed its banks and rose several feet to major flood stage cresting at 12.41 feet in just one hour, putting many buildings and roads in Westernport at risk of flooding.
“We are currently in an active evacuation mode for our areas downtown,” Westernport Mayor Judy S. Hamilton told FOX Weather Tuesday afternoon. “Our emergency personnel and our town crews that work in the city are in the process of evacuating people from the lower-lying area, including the Westernport Elementary School – we have children that were still in the school as well as staff. They are evacuating them to a higher location in town as we speak.”
An estimated 200 people were at the school, requiring an extensive operation to get teachers and students to higher ground.
“We were not prepared for the amount of flooding that took place,” Hamilton said. “We received a lot of heavy rain in a short period of time.”
In addition to rescues at the school, there were reports of stranded residents in homes, businesses and cars, but all had been attended to as of Tuesday evening.
A county spokesperson told FOX Weather that there were no reports of missing people connected to the sudden flooding.
The last time significant flooding occurred in Westernport was in 1996, when the Georges Creek flooded.
“We lost many homes along the Georges Creek area, so I know for some of our individuals, this is bringing back a lot of horrible memories,” Hamilton said.
NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center (WPC) had highlighted portions of several states where there was a risk of flooding from the Southeast and Ohio Valley to the Northeast. However, the WPC placed areas of the mid-Atlantic, including Washington and Baltimore, in a Level 2 out of 4 threat of flash flooding.
Officials with D.C. Water said their crews were out monitoring areas that are known to flood when heavy rain falls.