Tropical Storm Isaias caused major damage in Calvert County, Maryland, and some residents are still stranded because of flood waters.
In Huntingtown, neighbors who were once strangers are now friends as they help each other weather the storm.
A dam once carried Ox Cart Road over a lake. But it was no match for the storms that hit Tuesday morning. At least three tornadoes tore through southern Maryland.
Families made a makeshift bridge out of wooden pallets to get across the water in an emergency. The alternative is to use a rowboat. Neighbors offered each other food and water.
“We wanted to make sure everybody was OK,” resident Debbie Harding said.
Resident Darryl Ray and his family have had property on Ox Cart Road for years. Their days of growing tobacco and keeping cows are long gone but Ray said he’s well-acquainted with the dam that used to carry the road across the lake.
“My dad and I and my brothers, 40 years ago, put the road in, put the pipe in and everything,” he said.
Their work was quickly undone by the storm.
On Hunting Farms Lane, residents also were helping people on the wrong side of a washout.
There’s no word yet on when repairs will be made. But on the upside, neighbors aren’t strangers anymore.
“I don’t know these ladies, but one thing about it, people in Calvert County, it’s a community,” Ray said.
It will take more than a washed-out dam to change that.
Residents are fundraising for repairs to the private road. Go here for more information.
