Two people are dead after a torrent of floodwaters swept through Ellicott City, Maryland, Saturday night sweeping cars away, damaging buildings, and prompting water rescues.
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A flash flood in the low lying town of Ellicott City, Maryland is being called the worst flooding in a half century.
Barth said every business near the river on the town’s historic Main Street had suffered major damage, including building fronts torn off and doors stripped away.
One victim, Jessica Watsula, 35, was killed after her auto was swept up by rushing water; the other, 38-year-old Joseph Blevins, also died after his vehicle got caught in the flooding.
In Howard County, Kittleman said a disaster assistance center would be open for the next two weeks so that citizens may have access to federal, state and county resources in the aftermath of the storm that killed two people and left 6.5 inches of rain in a matter of hours. As water continued rising she hugged the others there and thought of her 2-year-old son. The rest of her family managed to exit the vehicle safely, but Watsula was swept away.
Watsula cried, “God help us!” moments before she was lost to the flood waters, her brother said Monday. When the water went down, they walked out to find incredible damage, feeling grateful to have survived.
This is not the first flood to hit the community of about 65,000 people, which is at the confluence of multiple rivers and was founded in 1772.
The colossal downpour focused the floodwater on the town, where fast-moving waves lifted cars on top of each other and ripped up roads and sidewalks.
Nearly six inches of rain – almost a month’s worth – fell in Ellicott City, Maryland on Saturday between 7 and 9pm. We could have all died.
Officals say that in the Ellicott City area this was worse than the 1972 hurricane Agnes devastating flood in Ellicott City.
“We’ve never seen such devastation in Howard County for over 50 years”, he said. He says she was thrilled when she got the job in the past year because it enabled her to spend more time at home and at the church, where she volunteered in a child-care program.
He said Christina told him the women left the restaurant during a downpour and got into Watsula’s Ford Focus compact auto.
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Barnes said everyone there Saturday was a hero. He said that there are more “urbanized impervious surfaces” such as as asphalt and concrete that increases the water that runs off into streams, lakes and rivers.
