Posted on August 23, 2016
By Jessica Anderson, The Baltimore Sun
Ellicott City’s Main Street was abuzz Saturday with front-end loaders removing piles of debris, pickup trucks carrying fresh lumber, and table saws cutting molding at different shops ravaged by a deadly flash flood three weeks ago.
As businesses continue to rebuild their storefronts and salvage items not ruined by floodwaters, a construction crew and engineers with the Baltimore district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers worked to clear tributaries of the Patapsco River that had overflowed during the storm.
“There is an imminent flood risk,” said Chris Gardner, a spokesman with the Corps of Engineers. “It’s a small piece, but an important one in the larger recovery effort.”
The Hudson Branch flows under Main Street before converging with the Tiber Branch, tributaries of the Patapsco River that overflowed during the July 30 storm. Flash flooding sent rushing waters onto downtown roads, creating a raging river down Main Street. Two people were killed.
In addition to pushing cars down Main Street, the powerful water shifted large rocks and an estimated 50 tons of sediment into a section of the Hudson Branch, just behind the Howard County Welcome Center.
The Army Corps of Engineers and business owners were out working on Saturday, Aug. 20 to clean up damage for the flooding.
A U.S. Geological Survey found that the Hudson Branch rose as much as eight feet in a concrete bed at Rogers Avenue and Frederick Road, well above the normal flow.
The force of the water pushed rocks in the center of the path of the Hudson, making it prone to future flooding. Many of the rocks had fallen from a retaining wall behind the welcome center that collapsed.
Arlene Weiner, an environmental engineer with the corps at the site, said that if the debris is not removed, it means more water accumulating during future storms will be displaced, causing more flooding risk, even with just half an inch of new rainfall.
Crews on Saturday used a crane to lower an excavator into the Hudson Branch, where an operator pushed and pulled at large rocks. The excavator would also be used to remove the accumulated sediment.
Gardner said the biggest challenge is getting the heavy equipment into tight spaces.
One site considered at risk had already been cleared by Howard County officials. A third site, where Main Street becomes Frederick Road, will also be cleared by the corps, he said.
The work is expected to wrap up Monday, Gardner said.
Howard County officials have kept Main Street closed to traffic since the storm but plan to reopen the road to pedestrian traffic by Sept. 16.
Charlene Townsend, owner of Maxine’s Antiques on Main Street, which had just celebrated 50 years in business, returned to her empty shop on Saturday. All of the shop’s jewelry, glassware and china had been removed along with debris left by the flood. Even the large windows were missing. Inside, plaster peeled away from the lath.
Townsend said she was thankful for all the volunteers who helped clear it out.
“That’s why I think I am at this point right now,” she said. “I’m very blessed.”
She said she hopes to reopen but expressed concern about her losses.
“I hope to come back,” she said.
Outside, she left one signature trinket: a pink flamingo lawn decoration. She said she had several in the flower pots outside her shop, but they were gone. This one she stuck into a flagpole mount overlooking the entrance to her shop.
Source: The Baltimore Sun
