Cleanup begins as D.C. braces for more floods
Watery messes at EPA, IRS, Justice buildings
Tuesday, June 27, 2006; Posted: 10:06 a.m. EDT (14:06 GMT)
Floods shut down D.C. buildings (1:52)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- With more storms on the horizon, cleanup crews were busy early Tuesday pumping water from the basement of the Internal Revenue Service building and steam tunnels under the city after days of heavy rain flooded the capital.
It wasn't immediately clear if the flooding had caused significant damage, but officials said several federal buildings and museums remained closed Tuesday and they warned it could take a week to clean the Justice Department's headquarters.
Commuters and tourists, meanwhile, slogged through the muddy aftermath of the storm, trying to avoid washed-out roads and still-flooded underpasses. (Watch how floods turned a tunnel into a canal -- 1:52)
With the continuing threat of flash flooding, government employees were given the option of taking a personal day, though the Office of Personnel Management said the federal government was operating.
Much of the eastern seaboard remained under the threat of rain and flooding Tuesday and through much of the week because of a low-pressure system stalled off the coast.
The National Hurricane Center was also tracking a stormy area about 140 miles south of Cape Fear, North Carolina, that it said could develop into a tropical depression at any time Tuesday. Flood watches were in effect for the most of North Carolina, with the possibility of tornadoes. (Watch how much-needed rain fell ... and fell -- 1:09)
"Areas that have been hard hit could see another round of flash flooding," said Steve Rogowski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Sterling, Virginia.
The more than 7 inches of rain that fell on Washington in a 24-hour period Sunday and Monday shut down some of the city's busiest tourist attractions, just days before the Independence Day weekend.
Archives shut
The National Archives -- where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution are kept secure under glass -- was shut down because the moat surrounding the building on Pennsylvania Avenue had flooded, spokeswoman Susan Cooper said. She said all records and national treasures were "safe and dry." (Watch where water reached roofs and swamped barns -- 2:37)
For tourists Sonja Hawn and her two young children, of Laurinsburg, North Carolina, the rain made for a damp 20-minute walk to the National Museum of American History. When they arrived, they found it closed by the weather -- but took it in stride.
"We're going to make the best of it," Hawn said, adding they would try to visit the National Museum of the American Indian instead.
A steam outage at the National Gallery of Art prompted the museum to close so it could maintain the proper humidity for its collections. While no artwork was endangered, the museum closed because crowds would have made it harder to stabilize the environment, a spokeswoman said.
EPA closed
In addition to the Justice Department and IRS buildings, the Environmental Protection Agency building was expected to remained closed Tuesday, said Mike Orenstein, a spokesman for the Office of Personnel Management.
Outside the capital, as much as 14 inches was reported in parts of Delaware and 12 inches at Federalsburg, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore.
In Elkton, Maryland, a 6-foot wide, 2-foot deep hole opened on I-95, blocking traffic in two northbound lanes, state police said. The Potomac River's Northwest Branch flooded U.S. 29, a major commuter route through Silver Spring, Maryland, with 5 feet of water and left a layer of mud. Most flooded roads had reopened by late Monday night.
More than 10 inches of rain fell on Hyattsville, Maryland, where firefighters used boats to rescue 69 people trapped in flooded homes, said Mark Brady, a Prince George's County fire and rescue spokesman. Boats also were used to rescue 30 people marooned in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and officials were preparing for the possibility of more water rescues Tuesday.
"It's going to be a challenging week," said Maryland State Highway Administration spokesman David Buck.
