Making Ellicott City safer would cost tens of millions — and it still might flood. Should the town be rebuilt?
The answer: A lot.
The engineering firm,
But it didn't stop there. For the long term, the firm recommended a couple of options: drilling two tunnels, called bores, through the town's hills at a cost of more than
Baltimore Sun Graphic
(Baltimore Sun Graphic)
It was an expensive plan. The proposed capital budget for 2019, which covers building projects throughout the county, totals
It was an ambitious plan. If approved, it could take decades to implement.
County officials went to work cleaning debris out of streams and shoring up retaining walls. County Executive
But most of the projects were still in the planning stage when tragedy struck again last Sunday. For the second time in less than two years, a rapid river of stormwater runoff ripped through
Now residents, business owners and others are asking: Why didn't local government do more, earlier to prevent another flood? After struggling to recover from the 2016 deluge, should they try again now to rebuild? And if so, what needs to be done to guard against more catastrophe?
"We had an emergency and it needed to be treated as such," she said. "I'm not an engineer. I can't tell you how much they needed to spend. But they needed to do more than they did. They didn't do much. They fixed a wall. That's it."
Kittleman says county officials have worked hard and fast to fix issues in
On another day, a cold front headed toward the
But when it arrived Sunday over
"When you deal with these issues, you can't build them in a month," the first-term Republican said. "You can't build them in a year. It takes 10 years or more to get some of these things done. ... Who would have ever imagined we'd have a worse flood two years later?"
As development on the hilly terrain overlooking the 246-year-old river town has increased, the volume of rain rushing off rooftops and parking lots has also grown. That makes
But many here say they don't want to give up on a town so rich with history and charm, a walkable streetscape of shops, bars and some of the region's best restaurants.
After a historic flood hit
On Wednesday,
"After...
His hand-written sign read: "
"I'm here to try to do something to save the town I love, the town I grew up in," he said. "I don't want to see a ghost town. All we can do is stop building, and find a way to redirect the water so the town doesn't get ruined. It's been here longer than any of this and it deserves to stay."
When
Now the town is wrestling with existential questions: Should it rebuild? Is it worth the taxpayer money? And, if so, how can things be done differently?
"To have two of these in two years is a real game-changer," Kittleman said. "We've got to figure out the best way to move forward."
Three days after the second massive flood in less than two years devastated Old Ellicott City, the historic mill town's businesses will rely again on a mix of insurance, disaster aid, loans and community support if they choose to reopen.
That's the big if. While some businesses already have launched...
Among the considerations: Should massive stormwater projects be completed -- such as the tunnels through the hills -- before the town reopens? Should the most vulnerable areas be condemned, and the businesses there be moved higher up the hill? Should some buildings adopt the
"That's what government is there to do: Solve big problems that are not going to be solved by the market," he said. "The market has been a big contributor to this problem."
After the fatal flood of 2016, 96 percent of businesses reopened. This year, fewer are expected to try.
Some quickly pledged to reopen. Others have been less enthusiastic.
It was all the Sangers could salvage in the...
"Everybody thought the flood of 2016 was a freak storm and we all thought we had time," she said. Now, she says, it no longer appears to be a freak storm, but a combination of changing weather patterns and overdevelopment.
"We can't fathom rebuilding," she said. "I cannot get up and ask people to throw more good money after bad."
"It's too early to say how much should we reinvest and in what," said
Weinstein pushes back against criticism that county government hasn't addressed stormwater runoff and overdevelopment.
The town, founded in 1772, was devastated by flash flooding in 2016, but many business...
He notes that water levels in the
"If it rains eight inches again it doesn't really matter," he said. "We'll shave a foot or two off the full damage."
But Weinstein is hopeful there could be more federal and state help after this flood. He said he and Kittleman both got calls from the
"If the federal government came to us tomorrow, that would be a different conversation," he said.
Former
Heavy rains in
Rutter thinks parking should be prohibited on
Rutter likened
"From my public sector role, I understand engaging the community and having meetings," he said. "But from my perspective, I've attended many, many meetings."
"I don't want to suggest the county should spend
Residents, merchants and officials in
Old
"I recognize
Lattimer, a candidate for the county's Democratic Central Committee, faults local leaders for what he says are steps in the wrong direction. He points out that Kittleman tried to repeal the county's stormwater management fee, derided by opponents as the "rain tax," which provides funding for projects that limit runoff. And he says the
"Mother Nature is saying, 'Can you hear me now?' "
He doubts even
When a massive flood hit historic
The 39-year-old National Guardsman, an
"Sometimes we think we can engineer our way out of problems," he said. "I can't imagine a culvert big enough to handle the flows we saw Sunday."
He thinks the county needs to start integrating climate change into planning documents. He'd prefer the county use the phrase #ECSmart instead of #ECStrong.
"Very few cities have integrated climate change into their planning," he said. "I worry there's this false bravado and machismo that we're going to bounce back. We reopened faster than we expected, and now look what's happened.
"There needs to be a reality check. To me it's hubris to say, 'We're going to do what we've done before and rebuild and take our chances with Mother Nature.' "
County officials have agreed to fund vast "dry ponds" along streams to hold water during major storms, and to upgrade and expand the system of pipes and culverts that carry parts of
Crews had to clear detritus of all types from storm drains and stream banks after Sunday's flooding in historic downtown
But they also managed to recover some debris worth saving -- massive stones once used to grind grain in the old mill town.
"They're historic artifacts really important...
They announced plans for a high-tech flood monitoring system in the
Some here wonder why such efforts weren't completed before businesses reopened.
"I wouldn't rebuild down there," she said. "Not the way that they have."
Given emotional and economic ties to the old mill town, she doesn't expect anyone to take that advice. When rebuilding happens this time, she says, residents need to pay more attention to the impacts of climate change and upstream development.
"It has to be drastic," Kwon said. "It can be nothing like what was done last time."
For 38 years,
But that streak changed for the couple in two hours when a record rainfall of more than 10 inches on Sunday caused deadly flash flooding throughout...
Kwon endorsed some of the more extensive stormwater channeling systems suggested by
"We should think about that very differently so we don't continue to put people in harm's way," she said.
She said re-creating the
"It's in the flood plain," she said. "That's where the water's meant to go."
The recent rains were extraordinary, analysts say, but flooding is to be expected in
"That's why it was built there," said
Sgt.
Update:...
The problem is that the streams no longer power the town's economy -- they flow beneath it. During the flash flood, the Tiber and
"Nobody anticipated it would be a place with boutique shops and restaurants when they built a mill there," Miller said.
Engineer
"
Miller said he doesn't blame
It was their first flood -- they'd only recently moved to
"We're all just trying...
"It's hard enough to come up with
"My initial inclination is, why wouldn't we?" he said. "A lot of the improvements that took place on the structure side did hold."
He was out of town during the 2016 flooding, he says, so he didn't get to see its damage until almost a week later. But only a day after Sunday's flood,
Area bars and restaurants have been announcing fundraising efforts to help victims of the flash flood that devastated
...
"Last time it blew through things," he said. "This time it didn't."
He defended the county's efforts since 2016 to better prepare for flooding.
"There's only so much money available at a time, and it takes time to plan out the things that did get done," he said.
As officials look toward another round of reinforcement for a battered
"I think we have to look at the bang you get for the buck with each of the solutions," he said.
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