Amateur video taken during severe flooding in Ellicott City, Md. on Saturday, July 30, shows a group of people forming a human chain in an attempt to save a woman from a water-logged vehicle.
Advertisement
Kittleman did not say how numerous businesses had flood insurance, but Megan Clark, who owns a toy store on Main Street, said she decided against purchasing a policy because it would have cost her $300 a month.
No firm financial damage estimate is available, but Ryan Miller, director for emergency management in the county, said it would run into the millions of dollars. County officials said more than 180 cars were towed to Centennial High School.
She said the couple’s frame shop business, Still Life Gallery, was destroyed by the flood.
“It will be months, if not years”, Mr. Kittleman said of the rebuilding. He says state and local officials are working to help displaced residents.
Mr. Kittleman was joined Monday morning by U.S. Sen. She called it the worst devastation she has seen in her years in her 30 years in office.
Mikulski said Monday it “took my breath away”.
Torrential rain caused a tributary of the Patapsco River to overflow and send floodwaters through Ellicott City, an unincorporated community in Howard County, about 35 miles (56 km) northeast of Washington, D.C.
Within two hours, more than six inches of rain slammed the area, killing two people.
At least two people died when their vehicles were swept away by the flood, Howard County Police Chief Gary Gardner 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.
Officials said the initial focus is on debris removal and that business owners are just getting a look at the damage to their property. “God, help us!” before she disappeared.
One victim, Jessica Watsula, 35, was killed after her vehicle was swept up by rushing water; the other, 38-year-old Joseph Blevins, also died after his auto got caught in the flooding.
He says Watsula and her daughter Sarah joined the Christian congregation about eight years ago.
Ms. Killen said she has largely remained stoic since water began to swirl around her house, washing away some of the ground under the sidewalk.
Advertisement
The county opened the Disaster Assistance Center on Monday at the Ellicott City 50+ Center.
