Student rescued from flooded Maryland elementary school says he’s “happy to be alive”

By Jessica Guay

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    WESTERNPORT, Maryland (KDKA) — Flash flooding hit parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland, including in Westernport, where floodwaters breached the second floor of an elementary school.

Officials said about 150 students and 50 adults had to be evacuated from Westernport Elementary School.

200 people rescued from flooded Maryland elementary school:

KDKA-TV’s Jessica Guay spoke to two young students and their mother, who are thankful to be home safe on Tuesday.

The Wade brothers don’t want to ever relive this day at school.

“Whenever we were going down to get in the boat, the first floor was flooded,” said Quinton Wade, a second-grade student at Westernport Elementary School.

“The first floor had been flooded all the way to the ceiling,” said William Wade, a fourth-grade student at Westernport Elementary School.

Parents race to Westernport Elementary School to save their kids:

The flooding came so fast that it trapped William Wade and Quinton Wade inside the elementary school. Their parents raced from their jobs to the school to get their boys.

“I didn’t get any call from the school. I didn’t know any plan. I didn’t know anything. So, my instinct was get my kids,” the boys’ mom, Alley Wade, said.

And even when she did get to the school, the water was too high for her to do anything. She had to wait on dry land for rescue boats to save her kids and the other people.

“I went on a motorboat and they drove us over to where there was no water and we saw how high the water was,” William Wade said. “We went over to the train tracks and we got on like this little truck thingy. We took off our life vests, and they drove us up to a church.”

Two hours after the rescues started, the boys were reunited with their parents. Their mom has never seen flooding this bad in her town.

“I have never. Now, I believe there was a bad flood in 1996, but I was 4,” Alley Wade said.

She’s thankful for everyone who helped keep her sons safe.

“The first responders and the faculty of that school were phenomenal because I’m sure they were just as scared,” she said.

And it’s a school day her boys will never forget.

“I’m just happy to be alive,” William Wade said.

The family says their home is OK, but they know people downtown who are now dealing with water in their homes.

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