Ellicott City Flooding (1 Viewer)

[James Daulton]

Really nice little historic town that was clobbered by a storm cell on Saturday.  I live about 2 miles away and we got around 10 inches of rain over two hours.  It was nuts.  The water coming in overwhelmed my sump pump and only two hours of continuous wet vac'ing, towel wringing, and just general busting our asses by the wife, daughter, and me kept our basement from flooding really bad.

It's amazing how powerful water is and the damage it can do in such a short period.  No one forecasted the storm cells to be anywhere near as powerful as they were, it was insane.  I still don't have cable, internet, or phone, I'm posting this from a vacationing neighbor's house.

Cleaning up wet carpet is the suck but at least we're all ok.

 

[Charlie Steiner]

Considered moving there when we left PG County in '03.  I liked it the few times I've been there.  T & P (Towels and Power in this case).

 

[Fat Nick]

Saw pictures on the news - We were down in VA visiting my parents.  Nothing like Ellicott City, but up here in Flemington NJ while we were away, the neighbors were posting shots of a normally almost-dry creek that had swelled and swallowed up the road to our house.  Those were some crazy storms this weekend. 

They were talking to some shop owners in Ellicott City on DC101 this AM - Sounds awful.  So many people were just trapped in buildings.  It's a miracle only 2 died.

 

[dgreen]

I keep meaning to visit Ellicott City. I've never been there. Will the historic area be able to recover and still be "historic" or are things destroyed so much that it will require tons of new construction. Will it ever look the same?

 

[Judge Smails]

Saw that on the news.  Looked horrific.  My brother doesn't live that far away, and I've driven by Ellicott City a bunch.  Didn't look like it would be that much of a flood zone.

 

[dutch]

I drove home in the worst of it and I can say that was one of the most torrential rains I've ever encountered.  My sister-in-law is now without a job due to the flooding.  Somewhere in the neighborhood of 170 cars were washed out.   Here is a video of a water rescue by regular joes.  Heroic.

 

[MattFancy]

Spent plenty of time in Ellicott City when I lived in the Baltimore area. Such a nice little town with shops, bars, etc. I still can't believe that flooding could cause that much damage. Just seems unfathomable.

 

[shadyridr]

I drove home in the worst of it and I can say that was one of the most torrential rains I've ever encountered.  My sister-in-law is now without a job due to the flooding.  Somewhere in the neighborhood of 170 cars were washed out.   Here is a video of a water rescue by regular joes.  Heroic.

I saw that. Love the girl risking her life and others for her cell phone (I assume that's what she put in her mouth)

 

[Mjolnirs]

I was just up there a couple weeks back. My best friend from high school lives in Ellicott City and he drove us down that street to get a feel of how old the area is.  With the steepness of that area, that had to be a scary thing.  He lives about 3 miles from Main Street. 

 

[Apple Jack]

I saw that. Love the girl risking her life and others for her cell phone (I assume that's what she put in her mouth)

This Baltimore hon...that was a pack of Marlboro Lights.

 

[dutch]

This Baltimore hon...that was a pack of Marlboro Lights.

Even though I don't smoke I can't fault her too much, I would have rescued my six pack if the need arose.

 

[lod001]

Woman rescued via human chain:

Ya know...

She leaned out the passenger side window, stuck a pack of cigarettes in her mouth, and fell into Barnes' arms.

Seriously????

 

[Apple Jack]

Woman rescued via human chain:

Ya know...

She leaned out the passenger side window, stuck a pack of cigarettes in her mouth, and fell into Barnes' arms.

Seriously????

I thought I was kidding. JFC.

 

[shadyridr]

That wasnt a cell phone? WTF?

 

[lod001]

I thought I was kidding. JFC.

Didn't see that you posted that already, I was watching the video of it and then read the story.

 

[avoiding injuries]

I was rooting against that girl half way through. It one thing to be stupid and risk yourself, but that one dude was already swept away once trying to help. The girl screaming in the background (if you heard the unedited version) was exactly right. 

 

[lod001]

I was rooting against that girl half way through. It one thing to be stupid and risk yourself, but that one dude was already swept away once trying to help. The girl screaming in the background (if you heard the unedited version) was exactly right. 

What did she say? 'Forget her. Just grab the cigarettes out of her mouth!'

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Spent plenty of time in Ellicott City when I lived in the Baltimore area. Such a nice little town with shops, bars, etc. I still can't believe that flooding could cause that much damage. Just seems unfathomable.

I've been in construction almost my entire adult life (35+ years) and have a geotechnical background. I'm also from Maryland and know that area really well. Historic Ellicott City is in an awful place, geographically. It's basically a bowl that's like a magnet drawing every bit of run-off from every direction. On top of that, if you so much as spit in the Patapsco there, it floods. This was a really, really bad instance but it's not the first - even just recently - and won't be the last, unfortunately.

Ironically, I now live in Woodstock, VA which - just over a year ago - had a similar super-cell storm park itself dead on top of us and dump 5" of rain down in no time causing the worst flood in town history and ####### up many of the businesses. 

 

[avoiding injuries]

What did she say? 'Forget her. Just grab the cigarettes out of her mouth!'

Put your sht down and get out of the f'ing car. 

 

[bushdocda]

Great place - just torn up. 

Been there a few times in the rain and it gets wild with the water rolling down the hills.  

 

[dgreen]

Ironically, I now live in Woodstock, VA which - just over a year ago - had a similar super-cell storm park itself dead on top of us and dump 5" of rain down in no time causing the worst flood in town history and ####### up many of the businesses. 

Really? Doesn't seem like the Shenandoah is close enough to affect too many places.

 

[roadkill1292]

I drove home in the worst of it and I can say that was one of the most torrential rains I've ever encountered.  My sister-in-law is now without a job due to the flooding.  Somewhere in the neighborhood of 170 cars were washed out.   Here is a video of a water rescue by regular joes.  Heroic.

I was on the west side of the beltway when it hit. Outer loop was stopped at the I-70 triple bridges for high water, must have been a clogged drain on that side because cars were stuck in water halfway up the car doors while we able to splash through about four inches worth on the inner loop side. That was a tense ride home.

 

[Swing 51]

I was on the west side of the beltway when it hit. Outer loop was stopped at the I-70 triple bridges for high water, must have been a clogged drain on that side because cars were stuck in water halfway up the car doors while we able to splash through about four inches worth on the inner loop side. That was a tense ride home.

Were you up near Frederick? Had tickets to a show at Flying Dog Brewery but decided not to go due to what looked like a massive front stretching to damn near Pittsburgh.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Really? Doesn't seem like the Shenandoah is close enough to affect too many places.

In the mountains, man. EVERYTHING runs downhill. It wasn't the Shenandoah that flooded Woodstock, it was the small streams that crested, plus the sheer volume of water with nowhere to go but down.

Some pics

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Same series of storms the other day caused some kind of blockage on one of the Patuxent's WWTPs and dumped 2 million gallons of sewage into the Patuxent.

 

[roadkill1292]

Were you up near Frederick? Had tickets to a show at Flying Dog Brewery but decided not to go due to what looked like a massive front stretching to damn near Pittsburgh.

I was coming home to Westminster from Easton. It started raining on me when I hit the Bay Bridge about 7:30 and from there until Owings Mills area it was a bear. Lots of water on the road on I-97 and the beltway.

 

[avoiding injuries]

I was driving up 95N around 730-8 through Howard County. It was raining and very dark, but I didn't think it was that bad. Traffic was still moving at almost the speed limit. 

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Small cell sat right on top of EC and just dumped. Same thing that happened here last year.

 

[GroveDiesel]

I was rooting against that girl half way through. It one thing to be stupid and risk yourself, but that one dude was already swept away once trying to help. The girl screaming in the background (if you heard the unedited version) was exactly right. 

Yeah, that first guy was just gone. Is there any word on whether he survived or not? 

 

[shadyridr]

Yeah, that first guy was just gone. Is there any word on whether he survived or not? 

He was in the video a few seconds later and helped pull her out so I am thinking he's fine.

 

[James Daulton]

Small cell sat right on top of EC and just dumped. Same thing that happened here last year.

It was such an unbelievable amount of rain in such a short time.  Way way worse (from a rain perspective) than any hurricane I've been though.  Prior to the basement, I had a pump in my pool to keep it from overflowing and there was at least 6 inches of clearance prior to the storm.  In fact, it had hardly rained at all the last few weeks.

 

[ClownCausedChaos2]

Glad to hear you're okay, buddy.  No joke, no schtick.

 

[The_Man]

This is really scary. Inside a restaurant during the flood, you see in real-time how fast it becomes a life-threatening situation.

When the guy yells "There's people in the water" it gives me chills.

We were at Union Brewing's 4th Birthday Bash, under the JFX by the Pepsi sign. My friend's car got completely submerged in the Meadow Mill parking lot and is totaled. One person's car got washed down the Jones Falls and still hasn't been found - so he can't file an insurance claim yet.