Boy, 13, dies after getting trapped in a storm drain during East Coast
flooding
[August 02, 2025]
MOUNT AIRY, Md. (AP) — A 13-year-old boy died after he was
trapped in a storm drain in Maryland during heavy rainfall and flooding
on the East Coast that also led to rescues from cars that were submerged
in floodwaters, officials said.
Kids were playing in the rain Thursday in a common area between
apartment buildings in Mount Airy, a town of about 10,000 people about
30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Baltimore, but floodwaters rushed in
and the boy was swept into the pipe, according to Mount Airy Volunteer
Fire Company spokesperson Doug Alexander.
People tried to rescue the boy, but the water pressure was too strong
and kept pushing him further into the pipe, he said. After the rain
slowed, they were able to free him, but it was too late, Alexander said.
In Maryland's Washington, D.C. suburbs, first responders received a
handful of calls about cars submerged in floodwaters Thursday afternoon.
In one instance, firefighters in Montgomery County found an 8-year-old
boy standing on top of a submerged SUV while a woman and toddler were
trapped inside, officials said. All three were successfully brought to
safety, said Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service Assistant Chief
Daniel Ogren.
More storms might bring flash and urban flooding to the northern
mid-Atlantic and southern New England through Friday night, the National
Weather Service warned.
Parts of the Baltimore area received 2.5 to 4 inches (6 to 10
centimeters) Thursday, according to the weather service, but isolated
areas received more, including 5 inches (nearly 13 centimeters) in Mount
Airy and 6 inches (15 centimeters) in Joppatowne northeast of Baltimore,
where people were rescued from flooded cars.
A few areas in New York and New Jersey saw 3 inches (nearly 8
centimeters) or more of rain and one part of central Long Island
reported more than 4 inches (10 centimeters), according to the weather
service.
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This photo provided by MontgomeryCo Fire shows the rescue of an
8-year old after flash flooding on Thursday, July 31, 2025. in
Montgomery County, Md. (MontgomeryCo Fire via AP)
By Friday morning, subways and commuter rail routes in the New York
area were running on normal schedules after some sections were
inundated by floodwaters. The city’s Department of Transportation
also reported that roads and highways that had been shut down due to
high water Thursday were reopened.
A few dozen flights were delayed or canceled at major airports in
the New York, Boston and Washington regions Friday morning, but most
were running on time, according to the FlightAware tracking service.
Power remained out to thousands of homes and businesses along the
Eastern Seaboard on Friday morning, including nearly 5,000 in New
York, 3,800 in Virginia, 2,500 in Maryland and 2,500 in
Pennsylvania, according to PowerOutage.us.
Amtrak trains between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware, were
stopped Thursday evening because of high water over the tracks, but
Amtrak announced a few hours later that service had been restored
and water was receding from the tracks.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and other local officials pleaded
with people Thursday to stay off the roads and urged residents in
basement apartments to move to higher locations as rain was expected
to fall through Friday afternoon.
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