To the editor:

As president of Watermark Condominiums, I spent most of the day Oct. 29 keeping watch to be sure that the water was not flooding into our building. Throughout the day, I had several interactions with our police force and the city maintenance department employees.

Our police were extremely cordial and reassuring, answering our many questions even though they had probably been bombarded with the same inquiries throughout the day. What would the city do without our first responders to maintain law and order when there is chaos around? Our town was anything but that on Friday.

When the water began to recede, the maintenance workers appeared and labored late into the night cleaning the streets and getting rid of the debris that the river had brought in. By Saturday morning it was hard to visualize that the same streets were completely underwater the night before.

A shout-out to Henry’s Towing, contracted by the city to tow every car in harm’s way and relocate them to higher ground. This is a courtesy that our city government provides to us anytime there’s a flood, at no cost to the vehicle owners.

So, I say a big “thank you” to all the city employees and leaders that while it was stressful for them, they made us feel like everything would be OK and sure enough it was.

-Marion Moon, Alexandria