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Pounding rains flood McLean roads, little league field

Flood waters destroyed part of Kirby Road where the swollen, raging Pimmit Run pushed over its banks.

MCLEAN, Va. — McLean, Virginia was one of the hardest hit areas after heavy rainstorms pounded the DMV on Monday.

McLean saw between three and four inches of rain per hour during the storms, and streams quickly overflowed their banks -- covering major road arteries.

Cars became stuck in fast-rising water along Dolly Madison, Old Dominion and Kirby Road.

RELATED: A month's worth of rain fell in the DMV in less than two hours Monday

A dumpster from McLean Little League was even pulled into the fast-moving Pimmit Run stream. 

Downstream, Pimmit Run roared over its banks and over Kirby Road. Neighbors said a parked car floated away. One driver said he crossed over when it was inches deep, then came back and was almost washed away.

"There was a four-foot wall of water pushing my car back. I just tried to gun my engine but it wouldn't...so I pulled in this driveway right there and stand there for two and a half hours," said Sanjay Verma. 

Credit: Jesse Burkett-Hall

RELATED: DC FLOOD MAP: Where in the District has the highest risk?

When the flood waters receded, part of Kirby Road was gone. 

"In two minutes. That was so surprising. In two minutes. So now I understand what a flash flood is. It's in a flash," Verma said. 

Upstream, at McLean Little League, the pounding deluge sent Pimmitt Run raging across all the ball fields.

Credit: Peggy Fox

RELATED: Heavy rain slams DMV, causes flooding, road closures and chaos

As rainfall turned into four inches an hour, it turned Pimmit Run into a monster -- tearing up fences and dugouts, plus flooding seven cars in the parking lot. 

"Within about 10 minutes it became about three feet deep. Just torrential rain and rapid moving water and all these cars were floating," Denis Griffin, the organization's grounds keeper. He said it's the worst damage in McLean Little League's 62-year history.

"Our dugout, which is cinder block, collapsed," he said. "Fences were knocked over, pitching machines ruined. It's quite a mess." 

When the water receded in a few hours, it left useless cars strewn about.

"Everybody's cars were going off, nobody's keys would work. I hadn't seen anything like it, especially this fast," said a young man who was at the park early to help run a baseball camp for kids. Fortunately, the kids hadn't shown up yet when the storm started. 

Debris is stuck in fences like an art deco project. It also left a high water mark.  

"I'm six-foot-one. And this is high the water is here, so it was probably about six and a half feet deep right here," said Griffin as he held his hand a debris mark high on the front fence. 

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