Torrential rain prompted a flash flood emergency in western Maryland Tuesday, and other pockets of significant flash flooding were reported from Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Among the hardest hit areas was western Allegany County, Maryland, particularly the town of Westernport, about 115 miles west-northwest of Washington, D.C. Video shared on social media showedfloodwaters rushing through parts of town, reaching homes and businesses and surrounding Westernport Elementary School. According to Allegany County Public Schools, local emergency servicesbegan to evacuate studentsfrom the school, as water appeared to have at least neared the first-floor windows in another social mediaphoto. Two to 5 inches of rain fell over this hilly terrain along the border with West Virginia. This triggered major flash flooding along Georges Creek, which cuts from north to south through the town before emptying into the North Branch of the Potomac River.One river gaugealong the creek reported an over 7-foot rise in just six hours to its highest level since the record flood of Sept. 6, 1996. Upstream from Westernport, parts of a road were reportedly washed out, prompting evacuations along Laurel Run near Barton, Maryland, and roads were closed in and around Lonaconing, Maryland. This prompted the National Weather Service toissue its highest level flash flood alert– a flash flood emergency – Tuesday afternoon for western Allegany County. (MORE:What A 'Flash Flood Emergency' Means) In southwest Pennsylvania, multiple basements and roads were flooded in Somerset and several roads were flooded in Meyersdale, where one rain gauge measured 6 to 7 inches of rain fell. And in eastern West Virginia, evacuations were triggered near Keyser when Stony Run ran over its banks, according to the National Weather Service. Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him onBluesky,X (formerly Twitter)andFacebook.
