A flash flood in the low lying town of Ellicott City, Maryland is being called the worst flooding in at least a half century.
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(Kevin Rector/The Baltimore Sun via AP).
Police learned Blevins was in Ellicott City with his girlfriend Saturday evening. (DiPaola/Baltimore Sun) Ellicott City, Maryland, September 22, 1989.
The Ellicott City Partnership (ECP) is accepting donation to help merchants and residents get back on their feet.
Remarkable video has shown rescuers forming a human chain to save a woman trapped in her auto in torrential and rushing flood water that has claimed two lives in the U.S. state of Maryland.
Video and photos shot in the flood’s aftermath depict a ruined downtown: bricks torn from sidewalks, cars overturned, windows smashed, storefronts ripped opened.
Andy Barth, a spokesman for Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman, said about 2 p.m. Sunday that several other people who had been reported missing earlier in the day had been accounted for, but search operations continued and the death toll could rise.
“It looks like the set of a disaster movie”, said Kittleman, a Republican.
He recovered and joined with David Dempster, another Main Street business owner, and two other men to form a chain to reach Knight’s vehicle. This time, she said she saw at least six or seven cars in the Patapsco River.
Robert Frances, director of the county Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits, told reporters that the county has found four or five buildings have been destroyed and another 20 to 30 are heavily damaged.
Sunday morning, people woke to find streets and hillsides collapsed and their homes and businesses wrecked.
Hogan signed an emergency declaration Sunday morning that will allow greater aid coordination and assistance.
“We are coordinating all available resources to address this emergency as quickly as possible”, said Governor Hogan, according to a press release.
“We’ve never seen such devastation in Howard County for over 50 years”, he said.
The man closest to her was Jason Barnes, whose business, All Time Toys, was at that very moment being wrecked by floodwaters. The major devastation was to the heart of Ellicott City where the businesses will not be able to reopen until the structural damages to the roadways and the buildings are assessed. “I have not heard of any serious injuries, thankfully”, Kittleman said.
The town was hit by roughly 6 inches of rain Saturday night.
Other parts of Howard County also got a month’s worth of rain in the span of a few hours.
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“The Historic Ellicott City Clock on Main Street has been swept away”, East Coast Alert tweeted. “We believe there’s some contributions to the flood from both directions”. Once a home to mill workers, in recent decades it has become known for restaurants, art galleries, antique shops and nightlife.
