Stranded After the Storm

Residents Trapped in Homes After 4 Inches of Rain

By Meghan Louttit (Contact)

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Most of the 51 residents of Crooked Bridge Lane south of Leesburg spent Monday trapped in their homes when part of a bridge was submerged by floodwater. By Tuesday morning, the water had receded enough for them to get a good look at what was left of the span that had connected them to the rest of civilization.

The wooden and concrete structure was still sturdy enough for them to walk their children across to catch the bus for school. But the bridge appeared to have been damaged, making it unsafe for cars. Several people drove over the bridge anyway. Their only other option for getting out of the community — a dirt path through a cornfield — was accessible only with a four-wheel-drive vehicle.

The storm that dumped more than four inches of rain on Loudoun County on Sunday and Monday closed at least 25 roads and left thousands of residents without power. But the aftermath proved especially difficult for the stranded community near Oatlands that had relied on Crooked Bridge for nearly 40 years.

Loudoun County Administrator Kirby M. Bowers, the county fire marshal and other officials met with the residents Tuesday afternoon at resident Lori Latka's house to assess the damage and discuss what needed to be done. Although a work crew was removing debris stacked under the bridge, no one seemed to know how long it would take to schedule repairs or who would pay for them.

Stephanie Butkiewicz, who has lived on the street for 17 years, said the main focus of the meeting was to determine the best way of creating an emergency road through Chudleigh Farm, the privately owned property with the dirt path.

"We're all in agreement that we need a temporary road out of here because we can't be crossing the bridge," she said.

Crooked Bridge and Lime Kiln Bridge, which also spans Goose Creek and serves one private farm, were the worst casualties of Monday's flooding, said Linda Hale, a deputy chief in the Loudoun Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management.

The department sent officials to the community mainly to "address how can we make sure that public service is going to be able to be maintained to them," she said. "If they call 911, how are we going to make sure that police, fire and rescue are able to get out there?"

Loudoun Country Sheriff's Office spokesman Kraig Troxell said Tuesday that the bridge is privately owned and that no one, not even the residents, seemed to know who is responsible for maintaining it.

"There's a question as to whether the Army Corps of Engineers built it, and we're looking into that now, with the help of the county," Butkiewicz said.

Ironically, it was damage from a storm a decade ago that gave the bridge and the road their names.

"Ten years ago was when the first lifting of the bed happened, where [the bridge] got lifted up and went crooked," said Butkiewicz's husband, Chris. "And a couple of years after that, the county made us name the street — it didn't have a name at that point, there were just a bunch of mailboxes out here. And the bridge was never straight after that — so we figured, what the heck."

The residents are part of the Greenlea subdivision, an informal homeowners association that collects money for a bridge maintenance fund, Hale said.

Residents confirmed the existence of the fund but said it is far too meager for the job they are faced with.

"I guess you could call it a bridge fund, but it was really for maintaining the bridge and the road," said Stephanie Butkiewicz. "Now that the county has come in and seen where we are, the question is, is it possible for us to get assistance?"

Hale said the residents' fund was tapped to pay for the private contractors who cleared debris Tuesday. Several residents also pitched in.

Residents were the ones who made the bridge passable after the storm 10 years ago, Chris Butkiewicz said.

"Some of the people who were living there at the time, myself included, got together, got some torches and some metal-cutting equipment and just did what we had to do to get the bridge back where it needed to be, and it had been fine ever since," he said.

Elsewhere in Loudoun, residents had mostly recovered from the storm. Most of the closed roads had reopened by Tuesday evening, county officials said. A portion of Hollow Oak Road in western Loudoun was washed away, however, Troxell said.

There were two water rescues early Monday, Troxell said. One occurred at 6 a.m. on Lincoln and Forest Mills roads near Purcellville.

"Two people were actually stuck in a car in a flooding area," he said. "They were recovered . . . and the vehicle was eventually pulled out."

The second incident happened around 2 a.m. Monday, also near Purcellville. An abandoned vehicle was pulled out of a flooding waterway, Troxell said.

Tagged: Crooked Bridge, flood, weather

Your Thoughts...

What action towards school development would best fit your community's needs?