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Evacuation stymies Kensington neighbors

Thursday, June 29, 2006

As thousands of residents were told to evacuate this week in anticipation of flooding at the Lake Needwood dam, Kensington residents seven miles south of the dam were told that their houses could be in danger as well.

Yet some residents of Parkwood Drive in Kensington said they received no official notice to leave their homes, while other residents did, causing confusion among neighbors about what they were supposed to do.

The Montgomery County evacuation hotline confirmed that homes in the 9900, 10000, 10200, 10300 and 10400 blocks of Parkwood Drive and the 10100 block of Parkwood Terrace were under orders to evacuate. The mandatory evacuation did not apply to every home, however.

On certain blocks, homes on only one side of the street — closest to the creek — were evacuated.

Parkwood Drive runs parallel to Rock Creek with Beach Drive, which was closed to traffic on Sunday, running between them.

Lt. Dorcus Howard Richards, spokeswoman for Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, said a variety of factors determine which homes are evacuated, including distance from waterways and topography.

Although she was not aware of specifics on the evacuation orders for Parkwood Drive, Richards said the residents were part of the 2,230 people evacuated in anticipation of flooding at the Lake Needwood dam.

Edward Meyer, a resident on the 10000 block of Parkwood Drive, said he awakened to the sound of police sirens around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday and was told by a ‘‘very friendly” police officer to evacuate the area because of the threat of flooding on Rock Creek. If the Lake Needwood dam burst, the resulting flood would affect Rock Creek water levels downstream.

A two-year resident of the area, Meyer said he never had problems with flooding or water damage to his house.

Still, he took the mandatory evacuation seriously, rousing his wife and daughter, and driving to a Silver Spring park where his family spent the rest of the night in their car.

Meyer returned home that afternoon to collect his family’s belongings before driving to Baltimore, where he planned to stay until given permission to return.

At the same time that the Meyer family heard about the evacuation, Carol Fuentevilla slept peacefully in her home, just two doors down in the 9900 block of Parkwood Drive.

Fuentevilla said she heard no noise that night and was surprised to hear from a neighbor that her block had been evacuated.

The neighbor told her that police arrived with sirens, bullhorns and searchlights to alert residents of the impending flood.

‘‘I was completely astonished and clueless,” Fuentevilla said. ‘‘I never thought I slept that well.”

Although one nearby resident had received a written notice about the evacuation, Fuentevilla had received none.

She became further confused after learning that her daughter, who lives on the same street near Knowles Avenue, had not been evacuated.

Although Fuentevilla’s home is located in a 100-year flood plain, at the bottom of a hill, she said she has had minimal water problems in her basement.

Earlier this week, storm waters collected at the intersection in front of her home and damaged her cars, but by mid-week, the streets were dry.

Standing on her front porch looking at blue skies and the dry street, Fuentevilla said that she would wait and see what happens with the dam before evacuating.

Traci Whittier, who lives on Edgefield Road near Fuentevilla’s home, was also confused about the evacuation notice.

She said her family did not receive evacuation notice, nor did they hear any of the sirens that awakened their neighbors.

The family had moved into their house in February and had no problems with the deluge last week, she added.

Whittier said she heard of the evacuation by a concerned neighbor, but did not know any details.

When asked if she planned to evacuate, Whittier looked surprised.

‘‘We’re going to stay in the house,” she said.