Flooding

More than 10,500 customers lost electricity and roads were closed due to high water Sunday evening as two thunderstorms swept through the region. Baltimore City police reported shortly after 9 p.m. that parts of I-83 were flooded. The ramp from I-83 southbound onto West Northern Parkway was flooded. Northern Parkway to Coldspring Lane was closed. In Baltimore County, scattered outages left intersections dark. Police precinct 3, the Franklin precinct, may have been struck by lightning that caused a power outage, police said.

Firefighters rescued a person trapped in a car in Howard County after heavy rain Thursday night led to flash flooding, fire officials said. A fire department spokesman said one person was rescued from a car stuck in the flood waters near the intersection of McKendree Road and Rover Mill Road in West Friendship about 8:30 p.m. That person was not injured, nor were four members of the rescue team, he said. The National Weather Service called a flash-flood warning Thursday night for northwestern Howard County and north Montgomery County.

WASHINGTON - Officials at Reagan National Airport have evacuated part of a gate area and closed off one terminal's baggage area after a problem with a pipe caused flooding. A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Tara Hamilton, said Saturday that flooding was ankle deep in the terminal C baggage claim area. That baggage claim was closed as were about a dozen gates in terminal C, Hamilton said. The airport has three terminals. Hamilton said it was unclear how many flights were affected, but they were primarily US Airways flights.

Maryland corrections officials are taking advantage of new technology designed to block the use of contraband cellphones by inmates - a problem at the heart of recent indictments at the Baltimore City Detention Center. In a program being used at another prison facility in Baltimore, phones smuggled inside have been severed from the network and rendered inoperable, officials said. The new system, which the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services hopes to expand, could supplement efforts to find the phones using metal detectors or trained dogs to sniff them out. The department says it is catching more illicit phones than ever - more than 1,300 were found in the last fiscal year - but the federal indictments show the limits of those efforts.

Flooding from Sunday night's storm has closed several lanes on Interstate 83, stalling the southbound morning commute at Northern Parkway to the downtown exits. Only one lane remains open after standing water from heavy rains forced the closures about 9 p.m. The ramp from I-83 southbound onto West Northern Parkway remains closed. Transportation officials say no other Baltimore roadways are closed due to flooding at this time. But utility work has also closed down lanes on Lombard Street near Light Street, transportation officials said.

More than 10,500 customers lost electricity and roads were closed due to high water Sunday evening as two thunderstorms swept through the region. Baltimore City police reported shortly after 9 p.m. that parts of I-83 were flooded. The ramp from I-83 southbound onto West Northern Parkway was flooded. Northern Parkway to Coldspring Lane was closed. In Baltimore County, scattered outages left intersections dark. Police precinct 3, the Franklin precinct, may have been struck by lightning that caused a power outage, police said.

Fears of widespread coastal flooding from a combination of high tides and the snowstorm's high winds did not materialize, though Ocean City officials are expected to examine the town's beaches today. Concerns about flooding along the state's coastline were raised Saturday, as officials worried that high winds from the east would push the already high tide ashore, leading to floods and significant erosion. In Ocean City, where beach and dune replenishment has been taking place, engineers are expected to check the shoreline for erosion.

Tuesday is already Baltimore's rainiest day since at least April 19, and with heavier showers possibly to come, forecasters cautioned of possible localized flooding in the evening hours. More than half an inch of rain had fallen at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport from 9 a.m. through 2 p.m. Another half an inch is possible in the afternoon and evening hours, according to the National Weather Service. Showers are expected to continue into the early hours of Wednesday morning for Central Maryland, according to the weather service.

Free at last from February's record snows, Marylanders face what could be record rainfall and potential flooding this weekend. Flood watches were posted statewide as a slow-moving coastal storm gathered strength Friday and prepared to drive heavy Atlantic moisture onshore overnight and through most of today. Forecasters expected the heaviest rains overnight and today, with at least 2 inches to 4 inches falling before ending Monday. Some locations could see 5 inches or more - more than a month's rain in one weekend.

The National Park Service says some boat ramps and campgrounds along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal remain closed by debris from Potomac River flooding early in the week. Rangers said Friday that nine boat ramps from Spring Gap in Allegany County to Edward's Ferry in Montgomery County are closed. The Antietam Creek and McCoy's Ferry campgrounds are also closed, along with the Billy Goat Trail near Great Falls. Park visitors should expect rough conditions along much of the towpath. - Associated Press

Tuesday is already Baltimore's rainiest day since at least April 19, and with heavier showers possibly to come, forecasters cautioned of possible localized flooding in the evening hours. More than half an inch of rain had fallen at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport from 9 a.m. through 2 p.m. Another half an inch is possible in the afternoon and evening hours, according to the National Weather Service. Showers are expected to continue into the early hours of Wednesday morning for Central Maryland, according to the weather service.

At last, more insight into Don Draper's psyche. Now that old Don is back, most of season six's sins have been cyclical, from revisiting adultery and prostitution to a hefty resurgence in Don's liquor bill. The reboot of old Don has sometimes made this season repetitive and dry. But it's to serve a point: Don's stuck in a vicious cycle of debauchery as a means to self-medicate. But can he change? This episode, on the other hand, was shocking -- filled with feelings of panic and anguish, rather than dread lingering from season five.

A $1.5 million federal grant will help pay for rebuilding the downtown Annapolis City Dock, including upgrades to stormwater management controls to reduce frequent flooding. "City Dock is arguably the city's most important asset, and first and foremost, we need to be responsible stewards of the assets we have," said Annapolis Mayor Josh Cohen. An overall $12.5 million rehabilitation project for the dock involves stabilizing and rebuilding 700 linear feet of City Dock's bulkhead, as well as the stormwater measures and upgrading slips used by transient boaters who visit Annapolis.

Baltimore City Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts is still relatively new on his job, so it's probably unfair to make too much of his unfortunate response to a question last week about the recent spate of gun violence that left nine people dead on the city's west side. "Though we're having a spike in homicides," Mr. Batts said, "our organization is working better, faster and smoother, and you can see it in the overall stats. " There was nothing factually wrong in Mr. Batts' answer; department statistics show an 8 percent drop in crimes of all types over this time last year.

It's been colder than is normal for this time of year in Maryland, but things are eventually going to warm up. As spring, which officially began Wednesday, gets further underway, Maryland will see a change from cooler-than-normal temperatures to warmer-than-normal temperatures, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's national spring outlook report. Most of the continental United States, apart from the Pacific Northwest and Northern Great Plains, will experience warmer-than-usual temperatures in next three months, according to the report released Thursday.

Under heavy rain on a beat-up street in East Baltimore Tuesday, the heads of city government kicked off an intensive, weeklong program designed to address violence, drug trafficking and other stubborn problems that have plagued the Oliver neighborhood. The program will feature increased police patrols and a door-to-door campaign to connect drug addicts with substance abuse treatment and struggling homeowners with much-needed services to keep them in their homes. The gathering just north of Johns Hopkins Hospital launched a blitz of resources in Oliver — which the city has targeted as much for its potential as its problems.

WASHINGTON -- The eastern half of the country is so soggy that it will be susceptible to flooding this spring -- and much of the West is in the grips of a major drought, government forecasters said yesterday.Even the copious quantities of rain and snow that fell over the Far West in the past several weeks are no more than a "down payment on a massive moisture deficit" in the area, said Frank Richards, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service.Mr. Richards said that from New Jersey to Wisconsin and south to the Gulf Coast, lakes and rivers are full and the soil is wet, so there will be no place for water to go in the event of heavy rains.

4:30 p.m. update: The flood watch for the Baltimore region has been canceled, though the coastal flood advisory remained in effect. Forecasters are calling for up to an inch of rainfall. Original post, as of 3 p.m.:  A high chance of rain throughout Tuesday afternoon and evening has caused the National Weather Service to issue a flood watch for much of the Baltimore region, starting at 3 p.m. Streams and low-lying areas could flood, and minor tidal flooding is also possible, the weather service said.

Impacts after Wednesday night's heavy winds and rain remain widespread around the region, with several roads remaining closed and rivers yet to crest and a wind advisory in effect. In Montgomery County, the flooding required several rescues, and in Laurel, a woman drowned in the high waters. A body was found floating in the water near Fort Meade and Laurel Race Track roads, in a low-lying wooded area nearthe Patuxent River and Laurel Park race track where homeless people camp overnight, Anne Arundel County police said.