WASHINGTON (AP) – The picturesque Main Street of Ellicott City, Maryland, faces a months-long recovery that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars after devastating flooding that damaged nearly every home and business along the road, officials said.
Two people were killed when the town about 14 miles west of Baltimore took on 6.5 inches of water Saturday night, most of it between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., sweeping away hundreds of cars, tearing away sidewalks and wrecking storefronts and building foundations.
A Pennsylvania woman visiting the town with her family was one of those killed after their car was caught in the raging floodwaters and carried toward the Patapsco River, police said.
Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman told The Associated Press by telephone that the devastation was the worst he’d seen in 50 years living in the county, including Hurricane Agnes in 1972, which caused the river to overflow its banks.
“It looks like the set of a disaster movie,” Kittleman said. “Cars everywhere, cars on top of cars, parts of the road are gone, many parts of the sidewalk are gone, storefronts are completely gone.”