国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Heavy rain, flash floods create havoc in U.S. capital region_时事

国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Heavy rain, flash floods create havoc in U.S. capital region

In Potomac, Maryland, the water tore a large gap in Belfast Road, local media reported. People fled to the roofs of their cars as water quickly engulfed roadways.

Pete Piringer, a spokesman for the fire department in Montgomery County, Maryland, said emergency workers responded to dozens of rescue calls and used boats to pluck people from flooded cars.

"Everywhere I turned, there was traffic and roads closed," he said.

By early afternoon, thousands of area residents remained without power, according to a Washington Post report.

Utility officials said crews had restored power to thousands of homes, but by 1:00 p.m., 1,300 Pepco customers and 2,000 Dominion customers were without power, down from at least 10,000 in the region since the storms started early Monday, said the report.

Dominion spokesman Jeremy Slayton said that at the hardest-hit areas in northern Virginia, the utility is having problems with downed trees on power lines and flooding. At its peak, 7,000 Dominion customers were without power.

Transportation services were also halted. Amtrak service was interrupted.

By 1:00 p.m., the L'Enfant Plaza's 9th & D Street entrance in central Washington D.C. remained closed because of flooding.

Due to lower speed restrictions in place after the rains, riders heading into the evening commute would continue to see residual delays, Metro said.

"We expect that all VRE trains will experience delays this afternoon," spokesperson Karen Finucan Clarkson told local media. "It does not appear as though there will have to be any single-tracking." CSX and Amtrak have also put high-water speed restrictions in place.