Filed under: Life
Tina, did you see this?! That video–wow. (They’ve now edited out the part where the wire basket suspended by the helicopter kept getting tossed away by the waves, over and over, as the person inside the car tried to grab it–and it was 17 degrees F while all this was going on. She did finally succeed in being rescued with her child.) Thank you thank you thank you Montgomery County Maryland rescue personnel!
I can tell you the names of the families living at the cross street where this happened. If you look at the pictures, there’s a traffic light ahead at Seven Locks: turn left, go maybe half a mile, turn into the neighborhood and you’re at the house I grew up in. Turn right instead at Seven Locks, and you’re in Tina’s. The teacher on her way to work who had a suddenly bursting wall of water and mud bury her car was going to the elementary school that Karen and Scott went to.
Everybody’s safe. Cars and roads and 96-inch (the Post now says 66″) water mains can be replaced.
And the firemen marveled that they just happened to be heading out for breakfast right when it happened so that they saw it and they were right behind that teacher and were able to call out immediately for massive reinforcements as they pulled their truck from car to car, pulling people out. The helicopter reached the ones they could not.
They were immediately at hand when they were so severely needed. The choreography of God. Wow.
(Edited to add this picture I took on River Road last year of the rock quarry that is halfway down the hill there where the water main broke–we were not allowed to play near the quarry growing up.  It was at the end of our street.)
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Wow – that’s your old neighborhood? I was thinking a lot about River Road when I saw the amazing rescues, didn’t know that the firefighters were in the area when it happened!
Comment by Renee 12.23.08 @ 2:31 pmI’ve watched that all day and wondered if any of my knitting friends commuted that way or knew that area.
Praise God for successful rescues!
Comment by Barbara-Kay 12.23.08 @ 5:11 pmI’ll have to forward this to our Day Crew, just in case their paid chief raises cane again about them going out to eat!
Comment by Channon 12.23.08 @ 6:03 pmHad to love WTOP’s nearly constant coverage (breaking only for traffic & weather together on the 8’s) of that earlier today. Sounded like they had everyone out & happy & healthy in fairly short order. And the pipes never lost pressure due to some fantastic management by the WSSC, so no water boiling or even much of a break in service. Heck yeah for good coordination!
Comment by Amy 12.23.08 @ 8:59 pmPretty frightening incident! I heard the 911 call on TV and also the interview afterwards with the rescue personnel. Thank God that everyone was rescued safely.
Comment by Joansie 12.27.08 @ 4:07 pmLeave a comment
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