Ellicott City Businesses Take Financial Hit After CSX Train Derailment
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (WJZ)— Deadly derailment. Historic Ellicott City was shut down after more than a dozen coal cars went off the tracks, killing two young women.
Kai Jackson has more.
The community in historic Ellicott City is mindful of the human tragedy involving the derailment. At the same time, businesses have been in limbo and received news about their future Tuesday night.
The community was shaken by the fatal freight train accident early Tuesday morning.
"We walked down there and we saw some flowers and some memorials. Just hard, just two young girls going to college," said Lora Cushman Guidi.
That impact was felt both emotionally and economically. While some businesses opened, many were closed. In a small town with boutique stores, a day shut down means dollars lost.
"When you're counting pennies at the end of the day, you want people to know that your town is open for business. And you want to have a driving force and you don't want it to be a train derailment," said Angela Tersiguel, Tersiguel's Restaurant.
A previously scheduled town hall meeting Tuesday became a forum for information about the derailment and a message from CSX.
"We expect to have the cars in the clear, those that are derailed, those that aren't derailed moved by roughly 10 a.m. tomorrow," said Reggie Durden.
Tersiguel's Restaurant is far enough from the derailment that they didn't have to close. But like most businesses in the area, they still felt the impact. They're just happy with the pace of the cleanup.
"I think it's incredible that within less than 48 hours, that CSX is gonna have the tracks completely clear of the cars," Tersiguel said.
"If you wanna wait until the weekend, that's fine, but come support these great merchants down on Main Street," said Howard County Executive Ken Ulman.
Business owners are asking employees to call before heading into work.
