Police across the region are urging drivers to stay off the roads as the National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency for the immediate D.C. metropolitan area today (July 8).

"It was terrible, I was stuck for two hours trying to go two miles," said Noel, the filmer, who captured a car stuck in a flooded road near Memorial Bridge in Arlington, Virginia.

Torrential rainfall moving southward through D.C. is leaving a trail of widespread road flooding and stranded vehicles, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a flash flood emergency — a rare warning reserved for exceptionally severe and life-threatening urban flood events, according to media reports.

Various flood-related issues were reported on both the inner and outer loops of the Capital Beltway. The Clara Barton Parkway disappeared under muddy waters. Reports of water rescues from inundated vehicles became so frequent for a time, they were difficult to keep track of.

Downed trees and mudslides are also impacting commutes and causing dangerous situations around the region. Thousands are experiencing power outages, reports say.