Potomac Spills Into Capital : Flood Closes Parkway, Monuments and Stores

The Potomac River, swollen after days of rainfall, surged over its banks Thursday in the Washington area, flooding low-lying shopping and residential areas, submerging parks and causing police to close a major roadway into the city.

The churning, debris-laden water, which crested at 12 feet during the evening rush hour, was the fifth-highest flood level on record and the worst since Hurricane Agnes struck in 1972.

Nonetheless, the river peaked at several feet less than had been feared and “things are going much better than projected,” said Samuel Jordan, deputy director of the District of Columbia Office of Emergency Preparedness.

Heavy flooding in the mid-Atlantic states has killed 42 persons and left 47 missing, authorities reported. The deluge caused extensive damage in West Virginia, prompting President Reagan to declare eight counties a disaster area late Thursday. And parts of Virginia, including areas of the capital of Richmond, remained un der 22 feet of water.

Hundreds of National Guardsmen patrolled 40 city blocks in Richmond that were swamped by the muddy James River, which spilled into a newly renovated area of shops and businesses.

In West Virginia, where many towns had been cut off for at least a day, new reports of devastation surfaced, with as much as 75% of the homes or businesses in some hamlets destroyed. Gov. Arch A. Moore Jr. said flood damage could reach $200 million.

The water created only a measure of inconvenience in Washington, lapping at several of the nation’s most famous monuments. Police closed the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials and the Washington Monument, primarily as a precaution to keep visitors away from the encroaching water.

Monuments Not Endangered

“We don’t see any real danger to the monuments,” National Park Service spokesman Sandra Alley said. She noted, however, that water was seeping onto the plaza at the Jefferson Memorial and could flood the building’s basement.

At the Tidal Basin several blocks from the White House, many of Washington’s famous cherry trees were standing in two feet of water, and police were prepared to erect a sandbag dike to protect nearby areas.

The river surged under clear blue skies and autumn temperatures warm enough to open many sidewalk cafes. “It’s such a beautiful day that it’s strange to look out and see that ugly, churning water,” Alley said.

Six miles of the George Washington Parkway, one of the most scenic approaches to the city from parts of Virginia, were closed all day Thursday, causing major traffic jams for commuters.

A Long Rush Hour

“Some 150,000 commuters will have to find alternative ways home,” Sgt. David Smith, a U.S. Park Police spokesman, predicted at midday. “It’s going to be a long rush hour.”

The parkway’s closing left only one route open to National Airport, which borders the Potomac. Officials said traffic was backed up for miles, forcing some travelers to miss flights.

In historic Alexandria, Va., shops were flooded and boats ferried customers to one restaurant in the city’s Old Town neighborhood.

Across the Potomac, in the fashionable Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, flooding forced some businesses to place sandbags around their buildings. Boat owners were urged to move their craft from marinas, and at Thifty Rent-A-Car, near the river’s edge, rental agent Lydia Ewing said she had rented some cars for $10.95 a day--$24 less than the lowest rate--just to get them off the waterlogged lot.

One underground garage was closed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and nearby, at the National Park Service headquarters, computers were disconnected, vehicles were driven away and a “Wet Floors” sign was moved into the lobby, just in case.

Oyster Beds Threatened

Donovan Kelly of the U.S. Geological Survey predicted that “about a half-million tons of sediment will move past Washington” as the floodwaters move on toward the Chesapeake Bay, adding that the sediment could settle in ship channels and threaten the bay’s oyster beds.

Washington may have been spared more serious devastation because the river channel naturally widens when it reaches the city. There had not been “a heavy expectation of cresting like it was upriver because it is so wide here,” Smith said.