LAUREL, Md.-
With rain falling again, cleanup crews were busy Tuesday piling sandbags and pumping water from the basement of the Internal Revenue Service building and from steam tunnels under the nation's capital after days of heavy rain flooded the capital.
In Maryland, dozens of residents were evacuated from homes in Laurel, Bowie and Maryland City because the flood gates were opened at a dam on the Patuxent River.
The Potomac River–which runs through Washington–was also rising and expected to approach flood stage on Thursday but not pass it, the National Weather Service said.
The more than 7 inches of rain fell on the nation's capital in a 24-hour period Sunday and Monday, shutting down several federal buildings and closing some of the city's busiest tourist attractions just days before the Fourth of July weekend, and forecasters warned that more rain was likely every day this week.
The National Archives and IRS headquarters were among several buildings still closed Tuesday because of flooding or storm-related problems.
While several flooded underpasses had been cleared by Tuesday, some downtown streets remained closed because water from the flooded buildings was being pumped into the city sewers.
None of the flooded buildings had structural damage, but water in the basements damaged air-conditioning, electric wires and others building systems, said Mike McGill, a spokesman for the General Services Administration, which manages federal buildings.
"We're still in the process of evaluating the damage to those systems," he said.
Sandbags were set up to prevent more water from getting inside.
Officials at the Justice Department, which handles day-to-day operations it its headquarters, said it could take a week to clean up the mess there an repoen the building.
Commuters and tourists, meanwhile, slogged through the muddy aftermath of the storm, trying to avoid washed-out roads.
With the continuing threat of flash flooding, government employees were given the option of taking a personal day, though the Office of Personnel Management said the federal government was operating.
Much of the eastern seaboard remained under the threat of rain and flooding Tuesday and through much of the week because of a low-pressure system stalled along the coast.
"Areas that have been hard hit could see another round of flash flooding," said Steve Rogowski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Sterling, Va.
In Laurel, Md., and neighboring Bowie and Maryland City, residents were evacuated from low-lying areas after six of the seven flood gates were opened on the T. Howard Duckett Dam on the Patuxent River. Residents were being sheltered at fire houses and community centers.
The dam was opened to keep upstream water levels down and to make room for more rain anticipated over the next few days, said Barington Salmon, a spokesman for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.
"We'll keep it open as long as we need to," said Salmon.
