Harford Co. Rebuild Underway After Fatal Floods
HARFORD COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) — Deadly and destructive flooding in Harford County has roads and bridges shut down as workers begin to assess the damage.
Some areas could be closed for months. Early numbers show the rebuild could cost millions to make repairs.
County workers are just getting a full look at the damage after flash floods killed two people Friday and washed out roads and bridges.
"We have about 80 DPW personnel out cleaning the rural bridges and inspecting them to see if there's any damages that we didn't find out over the weekend," said Barry Glassman, Harford County executive.
Glassman said now it is a matter of figuring out how bad the damage is and what it will take to fix it.
Workers have to look at eight bridges to determine if they are safe.
And road closure signs dot the area, turning drivers away from crumbled pavement and standing water.
"Some were closed because there is still high water, or, in some areas in the county they still have two inches of mud on them," Glassman said.
Early estimates range repairs anywhere from weeks to a year in some places.
The price tag could start at $2 million.
However, the cost of two lives was also a factor this weekend.
67-year-old Daniel Samis died after his car was swept over the Broad Run Bridge.
Cell phone video showed 34-year-old Melissa Lehew and her boyfriend trying to save him before she was also swept away.
"Our hearts were certainly broken for her, so a whole group of folks showed up to search for her," said Pastor Craig McLaughlin with Mt. Zion Baptist Church.
Lehew's boyfriend found her body Monday near where she vanished, ending a three-day search for a woman who died trying to save a stranger.
"That was not surprising to me at all. She was a kind of person to try and help people in need, and I think she knew what it meant to have hard times, and she wanted to reach to others in hard times." McLaughlin said.
With the search over, the county is asking folks to stay safe by obeying the road closed signs.
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