WASHINGTON -- While the Potomac River escaped major flooding and storm surge as Hurricane Sandy pushed through the D.C. region on Monday, the storm is poised to produce high-water levels in the coming days as excessive precipitation upriver heads toward the nation's capital.
And that could flood portions of the Georgetown waterfront, where the Potomac was already running fairly high on Tuesday afternoon:
As The Huffington Post reported Sunday, floodgates were erected this weekend around the Washington Harbour complex, which was flooded in April 2011. Washington City Paper noted Tuesday morning that restaurants impacted by last year's flood stayed dry during Monday's superstorm.
But the threat is not over.
As The Associated Press reports, the Potomac is expected to flood Tuesday night and is expected to have its highest inundation since 1996 and possibly rank in the top 5 high-water events for the river.
In addition to rain, portions of Virginia, West Virginia and western Maryland that are drained by the Potomac, saw record levels of snowfall with the superstorm.
The Potomac River has had a history of large floods following tropical systems or other large storms which have impacted low-lying areas of the city, as this simulation of the March 1936 floods demonstrate.
Officials in Alexandria, Va.,'s Old Town, which experienced some minor flooding from Sandy on Monday, is monitoring the river for anticipated higher water levels.
