LAUREL, Md. -
Anne Arundel County police say a person has apparently drowned in a flooded homeless camp in Maryland City.
Lt. T.J. Smith said a body was found Thursday morning in a wooded area at Route 198 and Laurel Racetrack Road where homeless people live in tents. He said the death apparently occurred before dams were opened on the Patuxent River.
Police say the victim has not been identified at this time but is described as an adult African American female and believed to be homeless.
Up to six inches of rain fell overnight in some areas along the Patuxent River, where dam flood gates have been opened, prompting evacuations.
Laurel city spokesman Pete Piringer says the evacuations were ordered Thursday morning and affect several hundred people in the city's historic district.
The National Weather Service says the water releases will likely cause higher water levels than the area has seen in many years.
