Ellicott City's Main Street Reopens Following 2nd Deadly Flood In 2 Years
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- In a race to recover from devastating flooding, much of Ellicott City's Main Street opened to the public Tuesday, just three weeks after water poured down, killing one man and washing away businesses.
Business owners say they did not know if their shops would survive the flooding, much less reopen this quickly.
Guarded by a pane of glass and a touch of luck, Jane Knighton's watercolors survived the murky brown water that claimed so much of Historic Ellicott City.
"It's amazing that this window didn't bust. Didn't break," artist Jane Knighton said. "When I saw pictures of the flood, I'm seeing my painting. Oh my gosh, the Patapsco's still here. I thought it would be all summer, that we'd be out of business for all summer."
An anticipated repeat of the flooding aftermath in 2016, which locked out home and business owners for months as county crews rebuilt much of the road.
"Compared to two years ago, this is like, way faster. And, I think that's something we learned two years ago, that we need to get the folks back in more quickly," said Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman. "We wanted to make sure they could have some patrons there. It's important. Ellicott City is going to come back even stronger, and we need to make sure that they have the opportunity for people to come in."
He says one of the next steps is figuring out how to get people into their apartments above some of the ground level businesses in the restricted area.
The hardest hit part of Main Street is still closed.
Parking lots near Main Street are partially open, with limited space in lots B, D and E.
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