![]() Sunday’s dramatic flooding tore up streets and swept away dozens of parked cars in the city, which sits in a ravine on the west bank of the Patapsco, about 13 miles (20 kilometers) west of Baltimore. It’s particularly trying for folks because Sunday’s torrential rains came just as it seemed the town had come back stronger than ever from a dreadful July 2016 flash flood that killed two. Now they face yet another massive cleanup, serious economic losses and a daunting comeback. “I feel like it’s our duty to make sure that we rebuild and open back up,” said Cortes, whose restaurant is right by the spot where a 39-year-old man was swept away by Sunday’s raging floodwaters.īut with floodwaters receded, revealing devastating damage across the downtown of quaint shops and historic 18th and 19th Century buildings, others are stretched to the breaking point. But he emphasized that the old mill town has been through it all before and he’s resolved to do his part to spur another revival. Simon Cortes, owner of La Palapa Grill & Cantina, said Monday it’s “a horrible time,” and his business took on about a foot of water. Their hope: to pull together as a community again after the second terrible flood deluged their downtown in less than two years. ![]() Some business owners in picturesque Ellicott City - established in 1772 as a mill town along the Patapsco River surround by hills - say they’re determined to rebuild after Sunday’s devastation. After yet another devastating flash flood ripped apart their historic Maryland mill town, hundreds of residents and business owners are again asking themselves: Should I stay or should I go? "This was about training thunderstorms.ELLICOTT CITY, Md. "It's such a localized, small-scale event that the big climate debate wouldn't really have an impact," he said. Lada was unwilling to link the vicious storms, two years apart, to global warming. Ellicott City got two months of rain in two hours." "They got several inches of rain per hour," he said. "The area only averages about four inches of rain for all of May. The river level spiked almost 18 feet in two hours, reaching an all-time record high, he said. Many areas were blasted by storms, but Ellicott City just happened to be hit over and over again. Lada said the storms were fed by extensive moisture in the air being experienced around the region. ![]() "There were heavy, drenching thunderstorms training over the area with several inches of rain per hour. "The worst flooding was Main Street, which is all concrete, so it flowed right through," Lada said. Four creeks converge on the town enroute to the Patapsco. The town was defenseless for Sunday's precipitation onslaught, he said. More: Ellicott City flooding prompts emergency rescues, state of emergency More: Maryland man missing after Ellicott City devastated by rampaging flood "That 1-in-1,000 doesn't take into account the topography of the area." "It's a really rare event that just so happened to occur two years apart," Lada told USA TODAY. The odds reflect the chance of the heavy rains, not necessarily flooding, he added. That was dubbed a 1-in-1,000-year rain event.ĪccuWeather Meteorologist Brian Lada stood by the statistics. ![]() Two years ago, 6.5 inches of rain fell on Ellicott City in about 3 hours, with 5.5 inches falling in just 90 minutes, the National Weather Service said. More than eight inches Sunday triggered flash flooding that sent a wall of water down Main Street, reaching the second floor of some buildings and sweeping cars into culverts. Residents and business owners in historic Ellicott City were picking up the pieces Monday after the second "1-in-1,000-year" rain event in two years walloped the Maryland town on the banks of the Patapsco River. Watch Video: Ellicott City overwhelmed by raging river of floodwaterīlame it on the rain. ![]()
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