Reopening St. Mary's County Roads Damaged By Isaias Could Take 30 Days, Officials Say
LEONARDTOWN, Md. (WJZ) -- With a death and two confirmed tornados, St. Mary's County in southern Maryland was hit hard by Tropical Storm Isaias.
With trees scattered like matchsticks across her property, Marion Miles knows things could've been much worse.
"The only thing I really heard was wind and glass breaking," Miles said.
The Leonardtown resident was home with her husband as a suspected tornado tore through their front yard early Tuesday.
"I got a call at 6:45 in the morning and dad said, 'There's a hole in the roof just inside the front door, and there's trees down everywhere,'" Dee Meyerhoff said.
The same winds that toppled trees sent a camper tumbling.
"The next thing I seen was the camper flipping and blowing over and roll about three times and end up over where that debris is in the yard," Evelin Bean said.
In the northern part of the county, in Mechanicsville, a woman was killed when a tree fell on her car as she drove south on Maryland Route 5.
St. Mary's County Emergency Services Director Steve Walker said Isaias was mostly a rain event.
"The water damage was substantial, a lot worse than anticipated," he said.
Several roadways were washed away, including a section of Route 5.
"And we're working on that to try to get them open as quickly as possible," Walker said.
Officials said it could be 30 days before all roads are reopened. The county declared a state of emergency and is seeking federal funding to help with the repairs.
"We have to get it fixed, we have to get it fixed quickly and this will allow us to move a lot faster to secure funding to get these projects done," Walker said.
St. Mary's County is still assessing the damage. They hope to be able to put a dollar amount on it within the next few days.
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