Heavy Rains Trigger Anxiety In Ellicott City With Some Still Reeling From Last Year's Flood

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (WJZ) -- Recent rains have waterlogged many Maryland streams and rivers, causing minor flooding in parts of the state.

In Baltimore County, part of Upper Glencoe Road remained closed due to high water Friday. School buses were forced to turn around.

In Howard County, WJZ was there as crews inspected drains for debris. It's something they now do after every major storm — a change from past policy made after two devastating floods in Ellicott City.

"We're going to be within three business days going in and examining 55 sites along nine waterways," said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball. "Really keeping those waterways clean is integral to making sure Ellicott City remains safe, and we can cut down on the likelihood of flooding."

A nonprofit helps in the inspections, and the public can track the progress at https://www.ecsafeandsound.org/clearing-the-waterways

Many people who had homes and businesses on lower Main Street are still anxious when the forecast calls for several inches of rain. One business owner who declined to be interviewed told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren she closed her shop after she saw the forecast Thursday.

Sally Fox Tennant is still cleaning up the mess from prior flooding.

"The sound of rain — I think for almost all of us — it triggers a level of concern. It's amped up," Tennant said. "I am cleaning up not only from 2018 but from the 2016 flood. It's never-ending."

She said the county did not do enough to mitigate flooding before the 2018 storm and is concerned about chunks of concrete and other debris still in the Tiber and Patapsco Rivers. "We're in a funnel," she told Hellgren. "Leaders failed in their obligation to this town to protect and preserve it."

She's less than a month away from losing a temporary storefront—and still in negotiations with the county to buy her damaged property.

"It's costly. It's traumatic. I'm waiting for a time when this will be behind me," she said. She also blamed rampant development, which she said the county did little to keep in check.

County Executive Ball said he "understands the frustrations." He said while development is a factor, climate change is also to blame for the floods. "We're seeing increasing storms and severe weather."

Sally Fox Tennant hopes she gets a "fair deal" for her building. She worries another devastating flood could strike here. "I've basically been homeless for a good portion of the past three years," she said.

Follow @CBSBaltimore on Twitter and like WJZ-TV | CBS Baltimore on Facebook