Thursday, October 01, 2015

Sandbags Available for Residents as Part of Storm Preparations

Sandbags Available for Residents as Part of Storm Preparations

Leonardtown, MD - The St. Mary’s County Department of Public Works & Transportation advises residents of the following:

As a part of the readiness and pre-emergency phase, the County is making sandbags available for use by residents. This is a self-serve process and staff will be on-site to monitor, but will have limited availability to assist in the filling or loading of sandbags.
Sandbags are not pre-filled and each individual will be limited to between 10-25 sandbags while supplies last.

Sand, bags, and shovels will be available at all six (6) convenience centers for County residents wishing to obtain sandbags in preparation for the effects of Hurricane Joaquin.

The convenience centers are located at:

Charlotte Hall – 37766 New Market Turner Road
Oakville – 26630 North Sandgates Road
Clement’s – 24547 Horseshoe Road
St. Andrews – 44595 St. Andrews Church Road
Valley Lee – 45350 Happyland Road
Ridge – 13939 Point Lookout Road

The convenience centers will operate under extended hours for this effort as follows:
Thursday, October 1, 2015: from noon to 6:30 pm
Friday, October 2, 2015: from 8:00 am to 6:30 pm
Saturday, October 3, 2015: return to normal hours from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Approximately 1,000 sandbags and 20 tons of sand will initially be available at each site.
Additional bags are scheduled for delivery Thursday afternoon.
Sandbags provide limited protection, but are intended to redirect small storm water and debris flows away from structures. It is suggested that residents lay a plastic sheet between the building and the bags to control the flow and prevent water from seeping into the door or window wells.
Generally the placement of bags is stacked up to three layers with each bag being tamped into place.

P.O. BOX 653  CHESAPEAKE BUILDING  41770 BALDRIDGE STREET, LEONARDTOWN, MD 20650
PHONE 301.475.4200 X1342  FAX 301.475.8491  www.stmarysmd.com

If sand is not available, residents are advised to use local soil. When sandbags are not available, other containers (i.e. small plastic grocery bags and pillow cases) can be utilized. Once used, homeowners should empty the material in the bags into their yards and then properly discard the bags.


For more information access our website at prepare.stmarysmd.com.