As officials tally the costs of the torrential rains and resulting flooding that marked the end of June, Harford County appears to have suffered little serious damage.
Despite flooding around Bel Air, toppled trees in the northern part of the county and the rain-swollen Susquehanna lapping at the edges of Havre De Grace, there was no significant damage to the county?s infrastructure.
“We were very lucky,” said Emergency Planner Linda Ploener. “We had less than a handful of residents calling [the emergency operations center]. There were a couple of flooded basements in Bel Air, and some trees down on roofs.”
Property damage to houses has not yet been estimated, since insurance claims are still being filed and taken care of, said Darlene Frank, Director of Public Affairs for the Maryland Insurance Administration.
While flooding closed dozens of roads, only a few sections of unpaved rural roadways were washed away by the storms that dumped more than 15 inches of rain on parts of the county, said Hudson Myers, deputy director of the Department of Public Works? division of engineering and construction.
No bridges or major roadways were damaged by floodwaters, Myers said. Deputy Treasurer Rick Pernas said road repairs and overtime costs for highway crews were somewhere between $150,000 to $200,000.
Harford County Fire, EMS and Rescue personnel performed a total of 12 “swift-water rescues,” saving eight people between June 22 and June 28. However, the extra work created no overtime charges for fire and EMS personnel, who work on an all-volunteer basis, said spokesman David Williams.
