Feagaville residents reel after devastating flash flood

Frederick News-Post (MD)

May 17--Among the valuables and keepsakes Linsey and Louie Ashton lost when the garage of their Feagaville home collapsed during a flash flood Tuesday night was a dresser Linsey planned on refurbishing for a future nursery.

"I'm most devastated because I really wanted to start a family, and I can't see us starting a family if this is gonna happen," Linsey Ashton said, as tears welled up in her eyes. "And I don't really wanna live here anymore."

The Ashtons' home and neighboring houses in the 5500 block of Jefferson Pike were in the path of a surging river of rainwater on Tuesday as nearby creeks overflowed. A Ford Focus vanished from a yard, numerous other vehicles were submerged in water, 15 chickens disappeared, a heavy-duty dumpster floated into a ditch and an unharmed calf turned up in the neighborhood. Longtime residents said they'd never seen anything like it before.

"It was like a movie," Linsey Ashton said. "You could not see because it was pitch black. Once the lightning hit, you saw a split second of horror: water gushing, the garage collapsed and then it was gone. And then you waited for another bolt -- and again -- just that split second of horror."

Ashton said she heard a loud bang when their garage went down. She said the earth washed out from under the structure.

"Within a matter of two hours, it was raining and then destruction just happened," Louie Ashton said. "There was nothing we could do about it."

Linsey Ashton trembled in grief as she described losing her prized chickens, one of which she was nursing back to health before the storm hit.

The Ashtons had to refrain from using their well water on Wednesday, they said, because they weren't sure if it would be safe to do so.

"We don't know if our well is contaminated," the wife said.

Linsey Ashton said neighbors on her block have been "amazing" in the aftermath of the storm. They offered the two drinking water and supplies to start cleaning up the property.

The couple said they are just now coming to terms with the financial loss they may be facing. They don't believe their insurance will cover much of the damage.

"I looked at my policy and they say, 'No flood, no storm surge, no dams breaking, nothing,'" Linsey Ashton said.

Ken Eyler, a neighbor who owns an electrical contracting business, said his livelihood was also severely affected by the flood.

"That's my warehouse," Eyler said, motioning toward a large structure behind his daughter's home two doors down from his own. "It had 36 inches of water in it. Everything that was 36 inches or lower is destroyed."

Eyler, who has lived in Feagaville for 32 years, said he's been through many flash flood warnings before, but in the past, he saw water flood only a portion of his backyard. This time around, he said, a full-on river flowed across Jefferson Pike through his daughter's yard.

The creek behind Eyler's house was filled with debris. The backyards along the block were littered with motorcycle parts from a Harley that was housed in another garage next to the Ashtons' that also collapsed, as well as tools, a kiddie pool, pieces of plastic and other weathered materials.

Luckily, Linsey Ashton said both of the couple's cars started Wednesday morning, even though they sustained some water damage.

Eyler said none of the numerous vehicles in his yard were where they were before the storm. Some of the vehicles were completely submerged, while others filled up halfway and were left caked in mud.

Neither the Ashtons' nor Eyler's homes sustained severe water damage, but their crawl spaces and basements did flood. Some of the houses on the block are nearly 200 years old, Louie Ashton said.

As rain began pouring again and large puddles started forming along Jefferson Pike around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Linsey Ashton said she didn't want to go through the trauma of another flood.

"I honestly don't ever want to see that much water moving that fast," she said.

Follow Hannah Dellinger on Twitter: @hdellingermedia.

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