911 tapes: Drivers describe being trapped

BETHESDA, Md. -- "It's getting full of water," cries a hysterical woman to a Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service 911 dispatcher as the water creeps up around the woman's knees inside her Honda Accord.

"I'm just scared. I have a child in the car. I don't want the car to wash away," another woman in a green Subaru tells the dispatcher as she describes her car moving backward.

"I need water rescue at River Road," an off-duty Frederick County firefighter calmly tells the dispatcher. "There are cars trapped in at least two to three feet of rushing water... You have three or four vehicles that are being washed down River Road toward 495."

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service released 911 calls that came in as a 66-inch water main burst just before 8 a.m., sending water rushing on to River Road, trapping nine people in vehicles Tuesday morning. At one point, 150,000 gallons of water per minute were gushing out, spilling debris on to the road, officials said. To hear the calls, click on the links on the left.

The swift-moving, frigid water complicated the harrowing rescues. Capt. Frank Doyle of Montgomery County's Swift Water Rescue Team called the conditions the "most hazardous" he's seen in his career.

Crews from around the region rescued nine people -- eight adults and one 9-year-old child -- from eight vehicles, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesman Pete Piringer. Seven of those vehicles were on River Road and one was on Carderock Springs Drive.

Three people had to climb from their vehicles into rescue baskets lowered down from a Maryland State Police helicopter. A firefighter in a 'john' boat helped two women to safety using a rope tether. Four other people were rescued by crews on a fire truck. Several others rescued others or were helped by a passing motorist.

Three adults and one child were taken to Suburban Hospital to be checked for hypothermia.

In the 911 tapes, dispatchers reassure callers that help is on the way.

"I have stopped. I can't move the car," one woman sobs. "Oh, help. I can't see anything,"

The dispatcher, trying to get as much information from the woman, tells her that help is on the way.

Another woman describes the water coming on to the windshield.

"I can't see anything now," she says.

The dispatcher tells the woman to keep the windows closed.

"Can you hurry up?" the woman asks.

At the same time, the mother is heard trying to calm her child. "It is OK, sweetie. It is OK my darling."

Emergency repairs on River Road started late Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, Gov. Martin O'Malley and Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett surveyed the damage on River Road, which is now covered in mud and littered with branches and other debris.

O'Malley took a look at the huge, cave-like hole carved out at the epicenter of the break.

"[It was] an incredible amount of force and power that came from this ruptured water main here," O'Malley says.

Crews tell WTOP River Road will reopen on Saturday - at the earliest.

It's not clear what caused the massive break, and officials say it could be weeks before they know.

For years, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission has been warning that its system is aging, overtaxed and underfunded. It serves 1.8 million suburban Maryland customers and has had an increasing number of water main breaks, including 1,357 between January and November of this year.

"We have an aging infrastructure," WSSC spokesman Jim Neustadt says. "We are working on long-term plans to try to repair or replace those pipes. It's a long-term solution and we need the funding to do it. It gets to be a very difficult situation."

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