A summer storm soaked the nation’s capital on Tuesday, closing the Cannon House Office Building tunnel and stranding motorists, who had to be rescued from a flooded George Washington Parkway.
Arlington Virginia Fire Department reported 40 people being removed from 25 stranded vehicles:
Video of stranded motorists being brought to safety by the Water Rescue Team during today’s incident at GW Pkwy. pic.twitter.com/udHb4jktY7
— Arlington Fire (@ArlingtonVaFD) July 17, 2018
AccuWeather reported the rainfall broke records in the nation’s capital and around the Northeast and ended a drought in the District:
Daily rainfall records were set in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. A total of 2.53 inches at Baltimore-Washington International Airport broke the previous daily record of 2.25 inches from 1947.
Reagan National Airport reported 2.79 inches, which broke the previous record of 2.05 inches from 1945.
Through the first 16 days of the month, the nation’s capital did not receive a mere 0.01 of an inch of rain, making it the driest first half of July on record for the city. Following the rainfall, the city has now received about 75 percent of its normal rainfall for July.
Cannon tunnel now closed due to flooding pic.twitter.com/Vwdg1uH69q
— Bill Clark (@billclarkphotos) July 17, 2018
The Washington Post also reported on the heat and the rain, citing that the 98-degree temperature reached on Monday was the hottest day of summer so far, and rainfall at Ronald Reagan National Airport totaled 2.63 inches in 42 minutes.
“I’ve been here 40 years,” airport observer Nicholas Parrell told the Post. “I’ve never had that.”
Follow @PennyStarrDC on Twitter.
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