Liz Holland

erholland@gannett.com

Overnight flooding on Delaware Avenue in Salisbury forced the evacuation by boat of 28 people from 13 houses, and city officials planned to post condemnation notices on the properties today.

The residents of five houses on nearby Rose Street refused to leave, said Mayor Jake Day.

Numerous houses throughout the city have been condemned due to flooding and electrical hazards, and more are expected, said Susan Phillips, director of Neighborhood Services and Code Compliance.

“We’re getting calls from emergency services all the time, and it will probably continue through the weekend,” she said.

Flooding has been an issue all over the city, especially on Route 13 at Priscilla and Alexander streets which remained closed to traffic.

“We’re open, but we can’t get too many to get in here,” said Howard Todd, an employee at Grant’s Service Center, which sits near the Alexander Street flooding.

Although customers couldn’t bring vehicles in to be serviced, the business was keeping busy towing disabled cars out of flooded areas.

“They’re everywhere,” Todd said. “A lot of parking lots and streets are flooded.”

Vehicles that attempted to drive through the floodwaters have been stalling and needed to be towed, according to a Salisbury Police Department post on Twitter.

The police department is advising motorists to use Beaglin Park Drive and Zion Road as an alternate route in the north part of town.

Meanwhile, Day said he has lifted the evacuation order at the Canal Woods condominium complex, except for Buildings A and G where ground floor units were severely damaged by floodwaters Thursday and still have no power.

The entire complex was evacuated Thursday after officials worried the Morris Mill dam in Fruitland might fail, but by Friday the dam was determined to be in good shape, he said.

There will be a meeting this afternoon with the four condo associations to discuss the future of Canal Woods, Day said.

The Salisbury area received about 4 inches of rain overnight, on top of nearly 9 inches that fell the night before, said Lyle Alexander, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wakefield, Va.

Showers are expected to continue tonight and Saturday before ending Sunday morning, he said.

This story will be updated throughout the day.