On July 30, Ellicott City in Maryland experienced a flash flood of epic proportions. “Witnesses described waters rising several feet in a matter of minutes,” reports Scott Dance in The Baltimore Sun.
Ellicott City's location makes it vulnerable to a flash flood.
Source: The Washgington Post
Jeff Halverson in The Washington Post pointed out that Ellicott City is highly vulnerable to a flash flood, as it is “an urbanized strip along the bottom of a deep valley through which the Patapsco River flows.”
In fact, the place has experienced some serious flooding throughout the years. One of the more recent one happened a decade ago — the Great Mid-Atlantic Flood of June 2006.
The car was being pushed back by the water.
Source: YouTube video screengrab
The deluge that happened last July 30 is sure to make it to the city’s flood charts. The National Weather Service referred to it as “an off-the-charts thousand-year rainfall event.”
Weather experts were shocked to note that six and a half inches of rain was dumped on Ellicott City in about two hours that day. This led to a deluge expected to occur only once every thousand years.
The passers-by form a human chain.
Source: YouTube video screengrab
Amid the flooding that ensued, there were 120 swift-water rescues, around 170 ruined cars, damaged establishments, and wrecked streets. Two people also lost their lives during the flood.
One woman who got trapped in her car amid the flood could have lost her life, too. Fortunately for her, there were passers-by who didn’t hesitate to help her out. They had seen her car floating on Ellicott City’s Main Street.
The woman had been trapped in her car.
Source: YouTube video screengrab
The video clip, which runs for two minutes and 10 seconds, shows how the woman was extracted from her car. It was not an easy thing to do.
As you can see, the well-meaning passers-by didn’t have any equipment for it. They only had their selflessness and their wits going for them.
The car with the woman trapped inside had been floating along Main Street.
The amazing rescue has been featured in the news. It’s just one reminder of just how bad it got for Ellicott City residents that fateful night. It’s a story of survival and community spirit that will help them rebuild what they had lost in the flood.
0 comments:
Post a Comment