Ellicott City Flood 911 Calls: 'There's Water In The Building'

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — The 911 calls to Howard County's emergency dispatch center on Sunday, May 27, ranged from a wedding planner who wanted to make sure hundreds of guests had someplace to evacuate to a man who said two pedestrians were up to their necks in flood waters.

Between 3:30 and 10:30 p.m. that day, police said dispatchers answered 1,122 calls.

"We're in the heart of the flood," said a representative from La Palapa, in the 8300 block of Main Street.

A National Guardsman who had been a patron at the restaurant went out to assist a woman in the flood behind the building. He was swept up by the fast-moving waters.

Police said the body of Eddison Alexander Hermond, 39, was found Tuesday on the Baltimore County side of the Patapsco River.

There were 300 emergency responses related to the weather event Sunday, including up to 30 water rescues countywide, officials said.

At Tea on the Tiber in the 8000 block of Main Street, a woman named Jane told the dispatcher: "There's water in the building...it's filling with water, ma'am."

She said 50 to 100 people were on the third floor, where the first level was flooding.

"Please help us," she pleaded, asking whether boats could come for the dozens of people at the tea parlor.

Before hanging up, she said: "Are we going to die, ma'am?"

Dispatchers remained calm, advising people to get to higher ground and assuring them that help was coming.

"All of Main Street is flooded," the dispatcher said to another 911 caller. "Stay as high as you can."

One woman was stuck on the initial level at Divaz Boutique in the 8100 block of Main Street, and at least two people called for help to report her store was flooding. She later said she was holding onto the sprinkler head as the Tiber surged through her back window.

Another caller said two people were trying to walk in the 8000 block of Main Street, and the water was "almost above their head." They were trying to walk across the Main Street bridge over the Tiber River, he said.

A group of shopkeepers was sheltering in place above the Summer of Love, a clothing and accessories store in the 8000 block of Main Street, downstream from La Palapa.

"We're on the second and third floor, which is my home," the caller said. "We're flooding from the back as well." A baby and eight others were in the home, where the owner said the kitchen was flooded on the first floor.

One block up, at Culture Lab, a pop culture accessories store in the 8100 block of Main Street, a man said he and his employee were holed up in his attic, where they could hear the glass windows breaking downstairs.

Said one caller: “God, this is worse than the last one,” referring to the flood of July 30, 2016. In that flood, two people died and millions of dollars' worth of damage was done to Main Street.

Main Street has been in a state of rebuilding since the flood that happened almost two years ago, when officials said 6.36 inches of rain were recorded.

"...this is worse than July 30, 2016," Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said the night of the flood.

Preliminary reports indicate Sunday's rainfall exceeded that of the flood two years ago, with 8.4 inches of rain at 8:55 p.m. on Sunday, May 27, according to the National Weather Service.

"They say this is a once-every-thousand-year flood, and we had two of them in two years," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said at a press conference. "I would say it's as bad or worse than the storm two years ago."

Hogan added: "Our hearts and our thoughts are with the people of Ellicott City. They are strong."

• Flood Calls From 2016: 'The Floor's Buckling"
• Scenes From Flooded Ellicott City: Video And Photos
• Ellicott City 2018 Flood: 'Devastated, Heartbroken' By Roaring Waters

A wedding party with more than 200 people evacuated from the Main Street Ballroom to La Palapa upstairs.

One 911 call came from the wedding planner, who said: "Many people's cars have been washed away." The venue where the wedding was taking place had flooded, she said.

As she was on the phone, explaining she wanted to ensure rescuers were coming to La Palapa, help arrived at the door.

Photo of first responders from May 27, 2018, courtesy of Howard County Government.