High Water

ST. THOMAS, Pa. -- The low-lying areas of the Twin Bridges Meadow Family Campground were deserted Monday, except for six campers and three vehicles that were underwater a day earlier. Branches, stones and muck plastered themselves to those things that hadn't been moved immediately when Back Creek and Dennis Creek rose quickly early Sunday. Firefighters from three departments helped to ensure everyone evacuated that portion of the campground, even carrying an elderly couple out of their camper when water was higher than a person's waist.

The following Washington County roads were reported closed Wednesday morning by the Washington County Highway Department: • Trovinger Mill Road. • Cresspond Road. • Battletown Road. • Clopper Road. • Leiters Mill Road. • Beaver Creek Road at Cool Hollow Road. • Wishard Road.

A driver is rescued from high water on Mount Briar Road in southern Washington County Tuesday afternoon. Neither occupant of the car was injured.

The lush green fields of the Nitterhouse Soccer Complex have been replaced by three feet of water from Saturday’s unrelenting rain storm. On the Chambersburg Youth Soccer Association website it said, “due to flooding, complex closed until further notice.” “It’s just really bad,” said Jim Faust, vice president of CYSA’s board of directors. During the spring season, 250 male and female soccer players, ages 8 to 18 play on the Nellie and T.K. Nitterhouse Memorial Park – home of the Chambersburg Youth Soccer Association.

Though flooding of low-lying Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in Jefferson County, W.Va., appeared less likely Wednesday, Park spokesperson Marsha Wassel said rangers removed benches and signage in case either the Potomac or Shenandoah rivers crested today at or above flood stage. "We try to stay a few feet above what the prediction is so we don't get behind the eight ball," Wassel said. National Weather Service officials Wednesday projected the Potomac to crest 3 feet below Harpers Ferry's flood stage of 18 feet.

gregs@herald-mail.com Rescue officials said a Pennsylvania woman was lucky she wasn't injured when her car became trapped in high water from Antietam Creek on Friday afternoon near Leitersburg. "We get this every time we get a flood. People think that they can get through here," said Milton Bloom, deputy chief at the Leitersburg Volunteer Fire Department. At about 4 p.m., Tammy Campbell, 37, was 10 minutes into her 40-minute drive from work to her home in Fort Loudoun, Pa., when she came to the bridge over Antietam Creek in the 21100 block of Leiters Mill Road.

A tow-truck driver had to be rescued Thursday morning when his truck got stranded in high water off a one-lane bridge near the 21300 block of Leiters Mill Road north of Hagerstown. Rescuers with Washington County Special Operations pushed a raft through waist-deep water about 75 yards out to the truck, where the driver was waiting for help in the front seat. The driver got into the boat, and rescuers pulled him back to the roadway at about 11:15 a.m. Leitersburg Volunteer Fire Co. Deputy Chief Robert Myerly said the driver, whose name was unavailable, refused medical treatment at the scene.

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. - Three vehicles got stuck Saturday evening in heavy water on River Road at Sleepy Creek, near the Potomac River, forcing emergency workers to rescue three teenagers from one of them. Dan Unger, chief of the Berkeley Springs Volunteer Fire Co., said one of the vehicles was empty when emergency crews arrived. A woman in a second vehicle that was stuck got out and walked away. As she was walking, three teenagers in a Ford Bronco drove into the water and also got stuck, Unger said.

A light overnight snowfall caused some closings and delays at area schools on Friday, and more snow showers are expected into this weekend. Kevin Witt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sterling, Va., said Friday night that a fast-moving clipper system will be moving through the Washington County area Saturday afternoon into the evening, bringing with it another “light steady” snow. Snow is expected to start between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday, with accumulations likely to top out at about 1 inch by the time it clears after 10 p.m., Witt said.

Five roads in the Eastern Panhandle remain closed as of Friday afternoon due to high water from recent inclement weather, according to the state Division of Highways. Henshaw, Douglas Grove and Allensville roads in Berkeley County, along with River Road in Jefferson County and Power House Road in Morgan County all were closed as of 4 p.m., the DOH said in a news release.

Berkeley County closed the storm shelter it opened in response to Superstorm Sandy at 11 a.m. Wednesday and county officials deactivated the county's emergency operations center as high water began to recede from low-lying areas in wake of the storm's passing. Stephen S. Allen, director of the county's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said Wednesday he had received only a few reports of substantial storm damage. “We really have fared well,” Allen said.

An unidentified farmer rescued a motorist from his flooded car Tuesday by having the man, who had gotten up on his car roof, climb into a bucket attached to his farm tractor, said Robert Myerly, deputy chief for the Leitersburg Volunteer Fire Company. The driver was taken to Meritus Medical Center on Tuesday to be checked out, although he hadn't been complaining of anything, Myerly said Wednesday. The man, who is not familiar with the area, was driving on Leiters Mill Road around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday and did not see the high water signs or the high water on the road near the Antietam Creek bridge, Myerly said.

Michael Goldberg was stationed at a downed power line along Sulphur Springs Road in Berkeley County to steer motorists out of harm's way caused by Superstorm Sandy on Monday night when the storm's damaging winds struck his family's home. Goldberg was volunteering with the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office Deputy Reserve when his 12-year-old daughter called and told him to come home because there was a tree in their home off Grade Road near Marlowe, W.Va. The tree crashed through the roof about 10 p.m. and landed on his mother's bed, but thankfully she wasn't there because she might have been killed, Goldberg said.

The Washington County Highway Department is preparing for Hurricane Sandy to move into the area. The roads department has snow plows at the ready for use in hauling debris, such as downed tree limbs, from roadways in the county, Washington County Highway Department Director Ed Plank said at about 7 a.m. Monday. The county roads department also is clearing leaves from drains as a precautionary measure, Plank said. “We are checking drains to make sure they're open and setting up trucks with snow plows for debris,” Plank said.

West Memorial Boulevard between South Potomac Street and Maryland Avenue will remain closed until further notice, according to Erin Wolfe, communications manager for the City of Hagerstown. The road was closed due to high water under the railroad overpass after heavy rains Tuesday, May 29. City workers began draining water from the street, but the water would not recede. Three weeks later, the water is still not receding, and city workers are still trying to identify the problem, Wolfe said.

Thunderstorms rolled through Washington County again Tuesday afternoon and evening, leading to residential flooding in the Claggett's Mill area off Poffenberger Road south of Hagerstown and causing a vehicle to get stuck in water on Cool Hollow Road, according to Washington County 911 officials. The vehicle ran into high water on Cool Hollow Road off Dual Highway at 6:26 p.m., and the occupants were able to get out before rescue officials arrived, 911 officials said. The residential flooding in Claggett's Mill was due to culverts that became clogged, 911 officials said.

The rain that drenched the Tri-State area earlier this week was expected to move out of the region and offer smooth sailing for the Thanksgiving holiday. Trina Heiser, a weather technician with the National Weather Service, said the worst motorists could expect was isolated showers Wednesday night. “The rain is done now,” she said. “I don't know how it's going to bother traveling.” Heiser said the forecast calls for sunny skies from Thanksgiving Day until Sunday, when there will be a 40 percent chance of rain in the evening.