Flooding Reported In Historic Ellicott City After Sunday Storms, No Damage To Businesses

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — Howard County residents braced themselves for an onslaught of rain Sunday night when severe thunderstorms rolled through the area. Officials reported temporary flooding in Historic Ellicott City but no damage to businesses has been reported so far.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for northeastern Howard County around 9:48 p.m. Aug. 18, which included Historic Ellicott City. Officials reported approximately three inches of rainfall in Ellicott City in a short period of time.

"The rapid rate of rainfall caused limited, temporary flooding in the west end of Historic Ellicott City. Throughout the course of the storm, there was no apparent flooding to businesses on Upper or Lower Main Street," reported Howard County Executive Calvin Ball.

Earlier in the day, the Howard County Office of Emergency Management activated the Emergency Operations Center to monitor the storm and coordinate pre-emptive responses with public safety personnel. Immediately after the flash flood warning was issued, the Howard County Police Department shut down Main Street to all traffic.

The Historic Ellicott City Outdoor Tone Alert System was activated at 9:48 p.m. to notify residents of the flash flood warning and directed people in the area to seek higher ground. The Outdoor Tone Alert System was activated again at 10 p.m. The National Weather Service also activated a Wireless Emergency Alert to all cell phones within their defined warning area, including Historic Ellicott City.

"We commend all our public safety personnel for their quick actions to monitor the storm and implement flood safety measures to protect our residents, businesses and visitors," Ball said.

As of 11:04 p.m., there were more than 1,280 power outages countywide. During the storm, the only reported road closures were in Historic Ellicott City, where HCPD manually closed roadways as a precaution, Ball said.

"We will continue to monitor the remaining impacts of this storm ... While we remain vigilant, these storm events underscore the importance of our ongoing impactful investments in flood mitigation and prevention. While we still have much to do, we continue to make tangible and visible progress for our community," Ball added.

May 27 marked the sixth anniversary of the 2018 Ellicott City flood, which killed one person after nearly 8 inches of rain fell in a matter of hours. Eddison Alexander Hermond, 39, of Severn, an active member of the Army National Guard, tried to help a woman and her cat when witnesses saw him get swept in the floodwaters. His body was found days later on the Baltimore County side of the Patapsco River.

Within the last six years, officials have established flood safety measures in Historic Ellicott City, including a debris clearing program, the high ground access gates, the Outdoor Tone Alert System, two flood mitigation ponds that can hold up to 7.5 million gallons of water and started construction this summer on the H4 Pond and North Tunnel.