2 Fatal Floods In 2 Years - Now Ellicott City's New Flood Mitigation Plan Could Cost $140 Million
Executive Calvin Ball unveiled a flood mitigation plan in May that aims to keep Ellicott City “safe and sound.” It proposes boring a tunnel to siphon floodwaters away from the quaint shops and restaurants lining Main Street and building or expanding stormwater retention ponds and culverts farther up the watershed. Ball’s plan would also demolish four of the historic buildings on lower Main and modify up to six more. “When you look at the reality of it, there are some buildings that just have to come down in order to ensure the highest level of public safety possible,” Ball said in an interview.
The floods that devastated old Ellicott City on July 30, 2016, and on May 27, 2018, were generated by “1,000-year storms,” with rains so intense that meteorologists consider them exceptionally rare and put the probability of their occurring in any year at 1 in 1,000.
However, extreme rainfall events have become much more frequent across the Northeast since the 1950s, a trend scientists say is likely to keep happening as the global climate continues to change in the coming decades.
Ellicott City has been flood-prone since its founding as a grain mill community in 1772. It was built in a steep, rocky valley where four streams come together before flowing into the Patapsco River. Some of the buildings actually sit atop culverted stream channels.
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https://www.bayjournal.com/article/ellicott_city_unveils_flood_plan_to_weather_increasingly_severe_storms
