Heavy storms Thursday night cause road closures, flooding in Harford County

James Whitlow, The Aegis, Bel Air, Md.
·2 min read

Jun. 4—The storm that buffeted Harford County Thursday evening closed some roads and poured 3 to 5 inches on the county — with Bel Air and the Churchville area being hit the hardest.

County spokesperson Cindy Mumby said Friday morning that a few county roads were still closed. Parts of Clayton Road and Craigs Corner Road were closed due to a downed tree and flooding, respectively.

The Nova Scotia Road bridge over James Run was closed because of debris from the storm.

By early afternoon, all but Clayton Road had been reopened.

Mumby said the National Weather Service issued a flash-flood watch early on Thursday, which was effective until 10 p.m. The storm came in waves — the second hitting Churchville hard — so roads quickly flooded and cleared Thursday night, she said, but here were no reports of major injuries or property damage.

The county also received one report of a possible tornado, which it referred to the National Weather Service, Mumby said. The service should be investigating the possible twister today.

County officials received multiple calls for swift water rescues. A report at 7:15 p.m., citing a stream gauge, indicated Plumtree Run rose 5 feet in less than two hours.

Rich Gardiner, a spokesman for Harford County's volunteer fire companies, said firefighters responded to about a dozen calls between 6 and 9 p.m. for rescues related to people being stuck in their cars on flooded roads.

Nobody was injured and everyone who called was able to get to safety by the time rescuers arrived, he said.

Some homes in the county were struck by lightening but were not seriously damaged, he said.

"I think overall we were fortunate," Gardiner

Mumby said the storm was minor compared to the last major storm in the county — a 2018 event that ended in some deaths.

According to a message posted to the county's Twitter page, 6 inches of fast-moving floodwater can knock over an adult, and just two feet of rushing water is enough to carry away most cars.

"The most important thing is to not try to drive through standing water," Mumby said. "That is a major contributor to rescues."

Updates on the state of county roads are posted to the county's website.

Baltimore Sun reporter Alex Mann contributed to this article.