Old Ellicott City still recovering from 2016 flood that forever changed Main Street: "I'm gonna fight to stay"
Thursday will mark 10 years since a devastating flood wreaked havoc in Howard County, Maryland, turning Main Street in Old Ellicott City into a raging river.
While some businesses never returned, others rebuilt, vowing to never leave Main Street.
After another round of devastating flooding in 2018, the county started a flood mitigation strategy in the form of a series of infrastructure projects. Progress on those projects is steadily moving along.
Reliving the 2016 flood
Since 2016, many who survived the flood have said that any time it rains can trigger worries and concerns that another devastating flood is imminent.
It's not the case for The Wine Bin owner Dave Carney.
"I think I'm one of those rare people in town that I don't have PTSD when it rains," he said.
However, Carney still has some concern for the lower part of Main Street. On the night of the flood in 2016, he remembers the water rising fast.
"I just jumped into a cherry tree; I lifted myself. The next thing I look, dumpsters are floating, cars are floating -- I mean just everything was devastation," he said.
Six inches of rain was all it took to fill Old Ellicott City with dangerous floodwater. Two people, Joe Blevins and Jessica Watsula, ended up dying.
While he initially thought he lost his business, Carney rebuilt and ended up making it through the 2018 flood, as well. He's seen how Main Street has evolved over the decade.
"Where I went for coffee has changed, because the coffee house isn't there anymore. Where I get my haircut has changed, although now I'm going to the salon that I used to go to, that flooded away," Carney said.
After putting it off for years, Carney recently opened a new restaurant called Vesper, also on Main Street. No matter what, he plans to stay in Old Ellicott City.
"I don't think I can move away. I think this is kind of my home," he said. "For me, I'm gonna fight to stay."
Safe and Sound
Work continues to steadily move along on the Ellicott City Safe and Sound Plan, kicked off in 2018 by Howard County Executive Calvin Ball.
Excavation for the plan's marquee project, the North Tunnel, began in June. It's slated to be done by fall 2027 and, when it is completed, will be able to carry 26,000 gallons of water per second.
Three of five flood retention ponds have been completed since the plan was announced. The other projects are in design or development stages.
More than $350 million in state and federal funding has been secured for Safe and Sound projects.
In April, Heather Owens -- a 2016 flood survivor and Blevins' fiancee -- joined county leaders to talk about the importance of the plan.
"This tunnel is more than a project. It represents action, it represents listening, it represents a commitment to protect lives and to make sure what happened to us is never forgotten," Owens said.
Carney admits he'd like to see Safe and Sound progress come faster, but he's content to see what's been done.
"It's moving along," he said.
