Residents Near Md. Dam Allowed to Go Home

Emergency officials allowed thousands of Montgomery County residents to return home late last night after two anxious days, saying water levels had receded and no longer posed an imminent danger to the Lake Needwood dam.

"The threat of dam failure has been substantially reduced," said Bruce Romer, Montgomery County's chief administrative officer. "Not only do we feel that it's safe; all the technical experts" agree.

But Romer, who ordered the unprecedented evacuation in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday after severe storms threatened the stability of the dam, said the 65-foot-high earthen structure still needs to be monitored closely.

After the 10 p.m. announcement, dozens of people boarded buses at the emergency shelter at Wheaton High School to head home.

"People are excited," said Cameron Ballantyne, spokesman for the Red Cross of the National Capital area. "They haven't been home for a few days, so they're obviously relieved.

"We provide the most comfortable cots in the world, but your own bed is better."

The lifting of the evacuation order came several hours after authorities found the bodies of two teenage boys who disappeared Tuesday while exploring a surging creek in Frederick County. Michael White, 14, and Thomas Plunkard, 16, apparently were swimming in Little Pipe Creek when they were swept away, officials said.

The boys were among five Frederick residents killed by flooding. Three drowned when they slipped from the back of a pickup.

Throughout the Northeast, communities continued to struggle with the storms' aftermath. Emergency officials ended an evacuation order for 200,000 people along the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, but flooding ravaged cities around Binghamton, N.Y., killing at least four. Binghamton Mayor Matthew T. Ryan said that two homes had exploded in the nearby town of Conklin, presumably from gas leaks that ignited, and that a third house had floated away and smashed against a railroad bridge.

Floodwaters also rose along the Upper Delaware River in New Jersey, with a near-record crest expected.

In the Washington region, many residents continued to mop up and dry out. The National Gallery of Art reopened yesterday, and the Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Castle are set to reopen today. The Smithsonian Folklife Festival begins today as scheduled.

There were some trouble spots. Federal officials announced that flooding in the downtown headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service was so extensive that the building will be closed for at least 30 days, with its 2,400 employees relocated to IRS offices across the region.