Flooding issues: St. Mary's trying to figure out emergency access

The community is still growing slowly; a home was recently added as late as 2013, according to Richard Annema, secretary of the Country Lakes Homeowners Association.

Annema spoke during the public forum of the county commissioners’ July 13 meeting, and said 600 homes were cut off during Isaias last summer. He said Asher Lane, a private road between Asher and James roads, could serve as an emergency access for many of the affected property owners.

On Wednesday, July 28, John Deatrick, the county’s director of public works and transportation, said the county has been working with the homeowners’ association for some time to solve the problem.

“We’ve identified two locations [in Country Lakes] where flooding occurs,” said Deatrick, who’s been in his position for four years. “It’s a real problem,” he said, noting that access during flooding “is a big problem all over St. Mary’s County, unfortunately.”

The county has a project under design to replace culverts on Yowaiski Mill Road, which runs north of Mechanicsville Road to the affected area. Deatrick said he is hopeful the county can replace those culverts this year before stream restrictions related to fish spawning go into effect. “We have a significant permit issue with Yomaiski Mill Road,” he said, noting the permit would come from the Maryland Department of the Environment.

In an email, Annema identified Chaptico Creek and Coffee Hill Run as the waterways most prone to flooding in the area.

He noted that some adjacent subdivisions can also be affected by lack of access during flood events. These include the Asher Lane development, Tower Estates, Meadow Woods, Lacy’s Run Estates and the following properties along Yowaiski Mill Road: the Mowry, Zoltan Forest, Armstrong and Louis Thomas subdivisions.

“Residents on Meadow Woods may have a way out [Bethel Church Road], and one homeowner there did open up their driveway in order to access that road. However, that road is not a public road connected to roads in the neighborhood, and many homeowners do block their driveways off to prevent them from being used by other residents as a sneaky way out to Bethel Church Road, which itself was in part flooded for much of the day [during Isaias],” Annema said.

On July 13, Annema said that during an emergency “every second counts, every mile counts, every life counts.”

Deatrick said he is generally aware that during Isaias, “a dump truck was able to get through, but he didn’t make it,” referring to a man who later died after being transferred from the dump truck to an ambulance and taken to an area hospital.

Police, fire and emergency responders and county officials were on hand at Country Lakes on Tuesday, Aug. 3 for National Night Out to hear from locals about flooding and other issues.

Twitter: @CalebSoMdNews