Ellicott City Flooding: Community Thanks First Responders

ELLICOTT CITY — A dusty haze hangs over Frederick Road, where street sweeping trucks brush mud brought ashore in Saturday's flash flood.

"They must have gone by 20 times," Cheryl Trivelli said of the street sweepers. Trivelli, who lives in the nearby Westchester community, had been handing out water bottles and food all day Monday to those working on the cleanup.

Families from Westchester Citizens on Patrol started offering supplies Sunday as a way to help. Quickly, others from Catonsville and surrounding neighborhoods joined, and strangers dropped off supplies after hearing about the effort.

Temperatures were in the 90s on the heat index Monday afternoon on Frederick Road, where Trivelli and her neighbors had set up a tent with signs for "H20" and "food." A woman in a hardhat approached, seeking Gatorade.

"This is nothing compared to what they're doing for us," Trivelli said.

Most people were more interested in drinks than food because of the heat, Trivelli noted. Even so, children volunteered to make sandwiches that morning, 50 to 60 of which were gone by Monday afternoon.

Trivelli said teams of volunteers were also going out from the tents periodically with a wagon to give supplies to those in the sea of bulldozers, rescue boats, utility trucks and police cars.

"It's what we could do," Trivelli said. "We have friends who have establishments up there [on Main Street], and we can't help them."

Approximately 6.5 inches of rain fell during a matter of hours Saturday night, killing two and forever changing historic Ellicott City after the Patapsco River flooded its banks.

Main Street was closed until surveyors could ensure it would be safe for the public to return.

• Ellicott City Business Owner: 'Too Early to Say' What Future Holds for Main Street
• How to Help Ellicott City Flood Victims
• Ellicott City Flood Damage by the Numbers

Business owners were escorted by vehicle Monday and Tuesday to see the exteriors of their shops but could not go inside for safety reasons.

Approximately 2o to 30 buildings were substantially damaged in Saturday night's flash flood, officials reported, and more than 150 people had to be rescued from the floodwaters.

In the aftermath, engineers were evaluating the structural integrity of buildings, workers were shoring up foundations and clearing away mud, while rescue teams were paddling along the Patapsco River in recovery mode and police secured the perimeter around the wreckage.

On the Howard County side of Main Street, government officials offered the Roger Carter Community Center as a resource for those working on the cleanup, but there was nothing similar on the Baltimore County side, so the group was filling a need, Trivelli explained.

"They're appreciative of us," Trivelli said of workers, "and we're appreciative of them."

The free food and water stand will be operational daily from 7 a.m. until close, across from the Old Mill Bakery on Frederick Road.

Photo Credit: Cheryl Trivelli and Elizabeth Janney.