Month’s worth of rain fell in 2 hours in this historic town

The Howard County Police Department released calls that its 911 center received Saturday night, when downtown Ellicott City was swept up in a deadly flash flood.

Jessica Watsula, 35, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania was killed when the vehicle carrying the auto she was traveling in was swept away. “We have seen people in cars and people holding on to cars being swept away”, the caller said. “That tells me this is not going to defeat us”. At least two people died: Jessica Watsula of Pennsylvania, and Joseph Anthony Blevins of Windsor Mill in Maryland, according to Baltimore County. His girlfriend was in the vehicle with him and managed to make it out. Storefronts were torn apart, vehicles were washed away and roadways collapsed under the weight of the floodwaters.

Mikulski said Monday it “took my breath away”.

The interior of Sweet Elizabeth Jane on Main Street in Ellicott City, Md.

“We’ve been through blizzards, we’ve been through hurricanes, we’ve been through awful train accidents, but we have never seen devastation like this”, U.S. Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, told reporters at a news conference. “It’s rapidly rising”, he said.

The rain from the storm swamped the small watershed of the Tiber and Hudson rivers that spills into the Patapsco, Howard County emergency official Ryan Miller told the newspaper.

Mikulski praised the work of emergency officials and citizens who helped save lives of those threatened by the surging waters.

Dozens of buildings suffered substantial damage and a handful were destroyed.

“I know this has been difficult and we have been working hard to allow folks to return to their homes for essential possessions”, Howard County Executive Allan H. Kittleman said. A local preservation organizations has pledged its help with rebuilding historic structures damaged by water and mud, local news outlet WTOP reports.

The video came from historic town of Ellicott City where a woman unsuccessfully attempted to drive through to raging flood waters.

Cover says Watsula worked in a shoe store in Lebanon.