A Howard County Times article (2016-10-06) announced the reopening of Ellicott City’s Main Street to traffic and pedestrians at 5:00 PM. The street has been closed to the general public since heavy flooding in July damaged and destroyed many buildings along the street. Both residences and businesses were affected. The article noted that Howard County had originally planned for a September 20 re-opening but delayed the move to give affected businesses and residence additional time to repair the flooding damage.
“We are certainly ahead of where people thought we would be right now,” [Howard County Executive Allan] Kittleman said Wednesday, standing just outside the Phoenix Emporium. “Amazingly, 10 weeks later, people are rebuilding and some are reopening. You just think about how wonderful these people have been and they’ve worked so hard.” …
“We’re ahead of the holiday season, which is the lifeblood of all these businesses,” [County Council Member Joe] Weinstein said. “When you saw what happened after the flood with cars sticking out of the ground and fronts of buildings completely gone, to imagine that just a couple of months later we would be reopening is a testament to [County Emergency Management Director Ryan Miller] and his team.”
President Obama approved federal disaster aid for Ellicott City last month, and Miller said total damage has been estimated at more than $12 million. Crews have been actively repairing and adding to infrastructures along Main Street, while also clearing stream channels and installing temporary curbing to steer water away from vulnerable areas.Most of these areas have been patched up, Miller said Wednesday, and additional drainage systems have been installed at the lower end of the street.
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