1 Person Missing as Extreme Flooding Rocks Ellicott City, Maryland

One person is missing a massive storm drenched the Baltimore region and triggered flash floods in [...]

By Libby Birk

One person is missing a massive storm drenched the Baltimore region and triggered flash floods in Ellicott City, causing Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to declare a state of emergency Sunday in Howard County.

Officials said 30 rescues were carried out into Monday morning, whereby the half-foot of water had receded and residents could survey the damage to their homes and businesses. The missing person was identified by WBAL-TV as Eddison Hermond, a member of the National Guard who was working to rescue people from the flood when he was swept away.

ellicott-city-flooding-2018-getty-The Washington Post : Contributor
(Photo: The Washington Post / Contributor, Getty)

No deaths or serious injuries had been confirmed as of Monday morning.

Many of the city's residents felt déjà vu, and many had just finished rebuilding, following 2016's catastrophic flooding that killed two people and submerged the city. On Sunday, water levels peaked even higher than two years ago.

"They say this is a once-every-1,000-year flood and we've had two of them in two years," Hogan said while surveying the damage, according to Weather.com.

Brown water rushed through Ellicott City's historic Main Street, topping buildings and cars, as the Patapsco River swelled to a record-breaking level. Howard County Fire and EMS said water levels reached above the first floor of buildings in some areas.

Howard County Executive Allan Kilttleman said the flooding was worse than that endured in July 2016. Gas lines were shut down and a historic building fell, he said.

"There are no words," he said. "It's heartbreaking."

Weather.com meteorologist Jonathan Belles said a line of stagnant thunderstorms dropped more than six inches of water in just under two hours between Ellicott City and Baltimore. Some spots may have received 10 inches of rain in a three-hour span. The Patapsco River, southeast of Ellicott City, experienced a 17-foot-climb in water levels over those two hours.

The river rose 17.8 feet in two hours on Sunday afternoon to 24.13 feet, a new record from the previous high of 23.6 feet.

"If you don't have to be outside, you shouldn't be," Baltimore County Fire Department spokeswoman Elise Armacost said in a statement obtained by the Sun. "You're much safer indoors."

The floods came just two weeks after Hogan announced the county and state had been awarded $1 million in funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be used for reducing flood risk in Ellicott City, according to the Associated Press.

Ellicott City is an unincorporated community about 12 miles west of Baltimore. Located in the valley of the Patapsco River, a major waterway flowing to Chesapeake Bay, Ellicott City is known for its flood-prone location as well as its historic downtown.

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