Ellicott City: Howard’s to Handle

After suffering its second episode of inundating, historic, “1,000-year” flooding within two years on Sunday, Howard County officials are bracing, once again, for more storms on Friday, reports the Baltimore Sun.

In Ellicott City, Howard County officials have removed 100 truckloads of debris from Main Street in recent days, hoping to clear a path for any downpours in coming days. ….

Storms with heavy rain could hit Maryland on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, causing more flooding on ground that is already heavily saturated. A flash flood watch is in effect Thursday afternoon and evening, with chances for downpours of as much as 2 inches to 4 inches of rain.

According to the Ellicott City Partnership’s website:

Founded in 1772, Old Ellicott City is a unique town full of surprises.

While that may be true, it deserves noting that Ellicott City is not, actually, an incorporated municipality. In fact, Howard does not have any incorporated municipalities at all. For this reason, Howard County bears all local government responsibility for disaster recovery and repair to the “town” – just like it did two years ago, and just like it does every day. From NACo’s coverage:

The county assisted about 300 residents May 27 and about 30 of those were water rescues, County Fire Chief John Butler said. The county’s 911 center fielded more than 1,100 phone calls during a six-hour window. …

[County Executive Allan] Kittleman’s news conferences were aired live on the county’s Facebook page and archived there; the press conference May 28 saw 12,000 views and received nearly 300 comments. The county is also getting the word out via its Twitter channel.

The county also set up a special page on its website with continuous updates with information on how to volunteer, a hotline phone number and where people could find cars swept away by the flood currents. Information was also available on storm debris removal, counseling for residents and a disaster assistance center that was opened. …

For those wanting to make donations, the county is sending people to the Community Foundation of Howard County website.

Video Posted by Howard County Government’s Official Youtube Channel.

At this year’s annual MACo Summer Conference, attend Batten Down the Hatches! Weathering a Water Crisis to learn how Maryland counties are collaborating with industry professionals to ensure that comprehensive crisis management plans are in place to address floods and other water-related emergencies efficiently.

The MACo Summer Conference will be held August 15-18, 2018 at the Rowland Powell Convention Center in Ocean City, Maryland. This year the conference’s theme is “Water, Water Everywhere.”

Learn more about MACo’s Summer Conference: