"In an afternoon you have everything taken away," she said. Radinsky also lived on Main Street-the flood waters swept away both her job and home of two months. She's also experiencing depression and a sense of uncertainty. "That's when one of my servers turned to me and said, 'This is happening again,'" Radinsky said.Ī week after the flood, Radinsky said she is exhausted and stressed. It would eventually reach the second story of many of the buildings. Then the water came down Main Street, as Radinsky and her staff tried to leave the restaurant. Two minutes later, she said, there were only five. She could see seven of the basement steps above water. It always rose a bit when it rained.īut then the water started to flood the restaurant's basement. She could see the Hudson branch-one of the three streams that converge at the Patapsco River-which runs under the building, start to rise, but she wasn't concerned.
The county courthouse and government headquarters are located in Ellicott City but are on higher ground.ELLICOTT CITY, Maryland-Sarah Radinsky was working at Portalli's, an Italian restaurant, while a rainstorm hovered over Ellicott City. Main Street slopes dramatically toward the river and has long been susceptible to flooding. Once a home to mill workers, the city has in recent decades become known for restaurants, art galleries, antique shops and nightlife. We believe there’s some contributions to the flood from both directions.”Įllicott City was established in 1772 as a mill town along the Patapsco, and many 18th- and 19th-century buildings were still intact before Saturday’s floods. In this case, the Patapsco river was coming up, too.
There’s hills on both sides the river’s on the third side. “Everything funnelled toward that Main Street area. With so much rainfall, there was nowhere for it to go other than the street. It just happened to set up over that area,” Elliott said. “It’s just a matter of the heavy rain being that long in duration. Other areas nearby received heavy rainfall for only about 30 to 45 minutes, he said.
#ELLICOTT CITY FLOOD POST SERIES#
Jason Elliott, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sterling, Virginia, said the town was hit by a series of strong thunderstorms that dumped heavy rain over a two-hour period. It’s hard to believe.”īarth said bystanders helped rescue some motorists who were at risk of being swept away while inside their cars, forming a human chain in at least one instance. All of the glass is broken many of the sidewalks are out. “In almost every case, catastrophic, just gutted,” he said. “This is by far the worst devastation Ellicott City has seen in decades,” Kittleman told WBAL-AM.īarth said all of the businesses along Main Street sustained extensive damage. Kittleman said the devastation was the worst he had seen in 50 years living in the county, including during Hurricane Agnes in 1972, which caused the river to overflow its banks. Some vehicles came to rest on top of each other. Videos posted on social media showed floodwaters rushing down the town’s Main Street, which slopes toward the river, and sweeping away cars. Maryland governor Larry Hogan was touring the damage having declared a state of emergency, which will allow greater aid coordination and assistance. Virtually every structure and business along Ellicott City’s Main Street was damaged, he said, estimating the cost of recovery at tens of hundreds of millions of dollars.Īndy Barth, a spokesman for Kittleman, said the town received more than 6in of rain, most of it between 7pm and 9pm. Kittleman said the damage sustained during the flooding on Saturday night was the worst in at least 50 years and possibly the worst in the history of the 244-year-old town.
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