Historic Maryland town faces long recovery after flooding

WASHINGTON (AP) — The picturesque Main Street of Ellicott City, Maryland, faces a months-long recovery that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars after devastating flooding that damaged nearly every home and business along the road, officials said.

Two people were killed when the town about 14 miles west of Baltimore took on 6.5 inches of water Saturday night, most of it between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., sweeping away hundreds of cars, tearing away sidewalks and wrecking storefronts and building foundations.

Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman told The Associated Press by telephone that the devastation was the worst he'd seen in 50 years living in the county, including Hurricane Agnes in 1972, which caused the river to overflow its banks.

Videos posted on social media showed floodwaters rushing down Main Street, which slopes dramatically toward the river, and sweeping away cars.

In one video posted to the Facebook page of an art gallery, several people can be seen forming a human chain to rescue a woman from a car that was being carried down the street by waist-high water.

Jason Elliott, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sterling, Virginia, said the town was hit by a series of strong thunderstorms that dumped heavy rain over a 2-hour period.