(Updated at 11:05 p.m.) All lanes of Route 110 have reopened after being closed for more than an hour due to high standing water near the Memorial Bridge underpass.
Four vehicles were reported to be stranded as a result of the high water, which was as deep as two feet. Six people were rescued from their vehicles by firefighters, who managed to drive their fire engine up to the stranded vehicles. All occupants are safe and accounted for.
One of the stranded drivers, Alexandria resident Jessica Cruz, says she and her family were driving down Route 110 toward the Pentagon when they came upon the flooded roadway. She said they tried to get around the flooding, but water ended up getting into the interior of the compact sedan. The water also got into the engine compartment, rendering the car inoperable.
“We went down the so-called shallow part, which wasn’t so shallow once we hit the middle,” she told ARLnow.com. “It didn’t make it any easier with the vehicles behind us pushing water into the car.”
With two-year-old son Jonathan in a car seat and her husband and mother-in-law also in the car, Jessica waited for firefighters to arrive. Once they pulled up, her husband escaped through a window and the rest of the family was able to get out by opening a car door, with firefighter assistance.
“We were just hoping to get out okay,” Jessica said. She said she also saw a young couple being rescued from a stranded pickup truck.
One man in a Jaguar coupe, who didn’t need to be rescued, said the water got up to his doors at one point. The car ended up being towed. A man in a BMW that was initially stranded was able, with some effort, to get his car started and drive away.
Other areas of high water due to tonight’s storms were reported at the intersection of Washington Blvd and N. Fillmore Street, and on Route 50 near Courthouse. Southbound lanes of George Mason Drive were closed at Washington Blvd earlier due to a downed tree.
