Tropical Rains Deluge Central Maryland
October 29, 2011
Photographer: Doug Bottamiller
Summary Author: Tom Beal; Doug Bottamiller; Ben Clements
In early September, 2011, a week after Hurricane Irene barreled up the Atlantic seaboard and two weeks after the Washington D.C. area was rocked by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake, Tropical Storm Lee drenched central Maryland. The Fairway Hills golf course, shown above, in Columbia, Maryland was inundated with 10 in (25 cm) of rain in just eight hours. There was so much water that pumps designed to keep streams from flooding pedestrian tunnels, tees and greens failed because electric control panels were submerged. In nearby Bowie, Maryland, enough rain fell to fill an 11.25 in (29 cm) diameter bucket that was 14.5 in (37 cm) deep. This equals about 1,441 cu in (23,614 cm3) or about six and a quarter gallons. Approximately nine gallons of water fell per square foot (0.09 m2) between early September 5 and noon on September 9.