The morning-after flash flood sirens blared in Ellicott City | WTOP News

Howard County has made several infrastructure improvements to try to weather flash flooding in Ellicott City.

Some business owners whose shops were heavily damaged in 2016 were still making repairs when the 2018 flood stuck — a few decided to go out of business or move.

With several streams snaking through and under downtown Ellicott City, Tiber Creek was raging Wednesday evening. In 2018, cars from a nearby parking lot were washed downstream, and lodged under the Court Street bridge, a few feet from Main Street.

Howard County’s plan to reduce the damage of future flooding includes razing four historic buildings.

Caplan’s Department Store has plastic sheeting where windows used to look onto Main Street. While the building, as is, is considered structurally unsound, the county hopes to rescue a portion of it, and the facade.

Two weeks ago, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball announced funding has been secured to begin building a 5,000 foot tunnel that will carry water away from Main Street and into the Patapsco River.

The 18-foot-diameter tunnel, would be able to carry about a swimming pool’s worth of water every second, would run parallel to Main Street, at points up to 100 feet below ground level.

Like WTOP on Facebook and follow WTOP on Twitter and Instagram to engage in conversation about this article and others.

Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

© 2022 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.