内容摘要：People shop at a party supply store in the Toy District of Los Angeles on April 9, 2025, where the majority of items are imported from China. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

People shop at a party supply store in the Toy District of Los Angeles on April 9, 2025, where the majority of items are imported from China. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Cars are submerged in a parking lot of Westernport Elementary School as flooding forces the evacuation of the school, and downtown homes and businesses were inundated with rising floodwaters in rural Westernport, Md., Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Aaron Stallings via AP)Cars are submerged in a parking lot of Westernport Elementary School as flooding forces the evacuation of the school, and downtown homes and businesses were inundated with rising floodwaters in rural Westernport, Md., Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Aaron Stallings via AP)

The small rural community of Westernport saw its downtown completely inundated for the first time in decades. Rapidly rising waters caught residents by surprise when a rainy day suddenly turned into an emergency situation.AP’s Lisa Dwyer reports that heavy rain in the Midatlantic region has claimed the life of a young boy.“We went from just kind of puddles on the street to the whole town underwater in at most an hour,” said Chris Lafferty, deputy chief of Tri-Towns EMS in Westernport. “It turned basically all of downtown into a river.”

With a population under 2,000 people, Westernport is located in the far corner of western Maryland. Its modest downtown took shape in a valley where Georges Creek flows into the North Branch Potomac River.People were also forced to relocate at two other county schools on Tuesday. Allegany County Public Schools said 12 students stayed overnight at Mountain Ridge High School before being picked up Wednesday morning. County schools were closed Wednesday.

Emergency officials said no one had been reported missing or injured, but residents were urged to stay home anyway because several secondary roads had been washed out.

The Potomac River remained within its banks, with only minor flooding reported and conditions generally improving, officials said. Crews were assessing damage after water receded in the Georges Creek area., un territorio rico en minerales y petróleo sobre el que mantiene una larga disputa territorial con Guyana, pese a los cuestionamientos internacionales.

Estados Unidos condenó el mismo día la convocatoria de elecciones sobre esa región, que Venezuela declaró como parte de su territorio el año pasado por ley tras celebrar un referéndum.En un mensaje en la red social X, antes Twitter, la Oficina de Asuntos del Hemisferio Occidental del Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos rechazó “todos los intentos de Nicolás Maduro y su régimen ilegítimo de socavar la integridad territorial de Guyana, incluida esta última farsa electoral en la región del Esequibo”.

, luego de un referendo celebrado en diciembre de 2023 para anexar al país el territorio en disputa. No está claro cómo las autoridades venezolanas pretenden implementar la idea de ejercer jurisdicción sobre el Esequibo.El presidente del Legislativo, Jorge Rodríguez, el aliado de Maduro que buscaba la reelección como legislador, afirmó que con la elección de un gobernador, ocho diputados a la Asamblea Nacional y siete diputados del consejo legislativo regional, se reafirmaba la soberanía que Venezuela reclama sobre ese territorio.