Rhode Island Avenue, Queens Chapel Road and 38th Street: the lines that frame Brentwood
Brentwood's own About page describes the town as lying between Queens Chapel Road and U.S. Route 1, which is Rhode Island Avenue and is a state-maintained road. The town covers 0.38 square miles and had 3,828 residents at the 2020 Census, and its charter dates to 12 July 1922. A town this small is easy to describe to a dispatcher, so give your street and the nearest cross street.
38th Street is also state-maintained, and the town website has carried WSSC water main break alerts that name 38th Street and Utah Avenue (the alerts are undated). A main break and a creek flood are different problems, so tell the dispatcher which one you think you have.
Parks and street corners that anchor a call
Bartlett Park
The park lies between 38th Street, Upshur Street, Utah Avenue and 39th Place. The town received a Chesapeake Bay Trust grant for its stormwater management, a sign that runoff is an active local concern.
Veterans Park
It sits at 37th Street and Utah Avenue. For a dispatcher it is a clean reference point when street numbers are hard to read in the dark.
Pocket Park
The park is at 4406 40th Street. The county's storm drain analysis names 40th Street near Wallace Road and Windom Road as a focus area, an area it examined and not a list of known flood spots.
Upshur Street and Volta Avenue
The same analysis looks at this corner and at 35th Street near Webster Street and Windom Road. If you live nearby, keep inlets clear before a forecast storm.
When the Northwest Branch side of town takes on water
The county planning study places Brentwood on the Northwest Branch and says residents regularly experience flooding. Creek or storm water inside a house should be treated as grossly contaminated, so skip the mop and call (301) 936-0619. Dispatch answers all night, and a same-day visit is offered whenever a crew is free.
A gas smell means walking outside first, then calling 911 and the gas company. Do not run electrical equipment in a wet room.
Quick actions while the water is still spreading
Stop the supply
For a burst pipe or failed hose, close the fixture valve or the main. A main break in the street belongs to WSSC, whose 24-hour line is 301-206-4002.
Stay dry near power
Never stand in water to reach the panel. A wet panel, wet outlets or any sparking means leave and call 911.
Lift and stack
Take valuables, paper and electronics to a higher floor, and pull up rugs only if you can do it without wading.
Call from dry ground
Give your street, the cross street, how deep the water is and whether it looks clean, gray or like sewage. Then call (301) 936-0619.
Water coming in near Bartlett Park or Utah Avenue?
Call (301) 936-0619 day or night, and ask for the work plan and cost up front.
What the county flood study found
The Prince George's planning commission's flood study says approximately 164 acres, or 66 percent, of improved property in the Town of Brentwood lies in a FEMA flood zone. For a 100-year event it counts 121 dwellings in Brentwood and 103 in North Brentwood at risk, with flood depths above 3 feet in some areas.
It also notes interior drainage behind a levee and six drain systems that run toward the Northwest Branch, and it used the June 2006 flood to model conditions. The county's flood history page separately lists Brentwood among the places hardest hit by Tropical Storm Agnes in June 1972.
In December 2023 the town announced funding for analysis of increased stormwater and flooding. Look up your parcel at msc.fema.gov and ask your insurer whether flood is covered, because the state insurance regulator says a standard policy almost never covers flood damage.
The one ZIP, 20722, and the towns that share it
Brentwood has a single ZIP, 20722, the code on the town office at 3712 Utah Avenue. 20722 also serves those neighboring communities: Colmar Manor, Cottage City and North Brentwood, which are separate towns. We take calls across the whole ZIP at any hour.
From Hyattsville it is about a mile to Brentwood's center in a straight line. Mount Rainier is roughly half a mile west between center points, and Bladensburg is about 1.7 miles east.
Houses from the 1940s, and five apartment complexes
ACS tables from the state's planning department put 23.8 percent of Brentwood's homes at 1939 or earlier and 31.1 percent in the 1940s. Adding the 15.9 percent from the 1950s, about 70.8 percent predate 1960. The town counts 720 single-family homes and five apartment complexes, and 44.6 percent of homes are owner-occupied.
The town says it began as a community of working families who wanted to own their homes, organized by an improvement association in 1917. After a leak, houses that age deserve a plumber's check of the original supply and drain lines, not only a dry-out.
Services Brentwood tends to need, most likely first
- A creek flood or heavy rain that fills a lower level calls for flood damage restoration, which covers extraction, removal of contaminated materials and structured drying.
- Standing water from a burst pipe or storm comes out first through emergency water removal, before any drying equipment goes in.
- Wet drywall, insulation and flooring that must be torn out fall under water damage cleanup.
- When framing reads dry on a moisture meter, water damage repair rebuilds what was removed.
Two permits, not one
Waterproofing and rebuilding need Town and County
Brentwood's website says two permits are required for any remodeling or construction, one from the Town and one from Prince George's County. Roofing, gutters, windows, siding and low fences are Town permits only, while digging for waterproofing, remodeling and additions need both.
Restoration is not waterproofing. Drying a wet basement does not stop the next storm, and exterior digging needs permits, so ask the town before you hire anyone to dig.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Brentwood has one ZIP, 20722, and it spans the town office on Utah Avenue, Bartlett Park off 38th Street and Rhode Island Avenue. The ZIP also serves Colmar Manor, Cottage City and North Brentwood, so give the dispatcher your street if you live near a town line.
Yes, around the clock. Call (301) 936-0619 on a weeknight, a holiday or in the middle of a storm. Brentwood is a short trip from Hyattsville, and same-day response is offered when available.
The county study says 66 percent of improved property in town is in a FEMA flood zone, but that does not tell you about one address. Look yours up at msc.fema.gov, and ask your insurer, since flood is usually excluded from homeowners policies.
The town website says digging for waterproofing needs both a Town permit and a Prince George's County permit. Ask the town first, and make sure whoever you hire knows the two-permit rule.
WSSC Water repairs the main, and its 24-hour line is 301-206-4002. WSSC says repairs typically take 4 to 6 hours after crews uncover the pipe. If water has already come inside your home, call (301) 936-0619 for the drying.