![]() To help evacuate the street in the event of a flood, Gibson gave the county access to his private alleys. The state-funded public alert system, which is meant to warn of potential flooding in the historic district, has been an important new tool, according to Barry Gibson, owner of the Forget-Me-Not Factory, a gift shop known for its magic bubbles, on Main Street. “The water picks up all the garbage and brings it down,” DeLuca said. The county also has installed fencing and bollards, which are vertical posts, to help prevent cars and other objects, including dumpsters, from floating away, he said. Once cleaned quarterly, Ellicott City’s drains are now cleaned of debris after every storm with sustained wind gusts, DeLuca said. The county has done a better job cleaning the storm drains, she said. “I felt an obligation to come back one more time,” Sanger said. In its first five years, the store has not yet been open for 12 consecutive months, she said. It reopened afterward, only to have the second flood in May 2018 do more damage than the first. The Sangers’ business had only been open two weeks when the first flood hit in July 2016. I wish it could have happened a year ago.” “It’s been very frustrating, the pace at which things are proceeding,” said Donna Sanger, a former federal prosecutor. “There are a lot of challenges to it.”ĭonna Sanger, who co-owns Park Ridge Trading Company on Main Street with her daughter Julia Sanger, realizes it takes time to get projects done, especially with the coronavirus pandemic in the mix, but she is not sure she can stick it out through another flood. ![]() “Understand the time it takes to get designs through and permits,” DeLuca said. ![]() The WIFA loan requires all projects to be completed within five years of receiving the loan. “The new culvert will allow water to move into two drainage points.”Īll of these projects are scheduled to begin over the next three years depending on approvals, design plans and permits. “All of these waterways collect here to channel to the Patapsco,” said Zach Hollenbeck, with the county’s Department of Public Works, as he stood near the B&O train station by the river. “They are a severe obstruction to the flow of water,” DeLuca said.įour buildings - which once housed the Phoenix Emporium, Great Panes Art Glass Studio, Discoveries and Bean Hollow - will need to be demolished to allow the creation of the Maryland Avenue culvert, which will connect the Tiber-Hudson to the Patapsco. Other historic buildings will have to have the back portions of their buildings removed as they are built over the Tiber branch. Originally designed to be shorter, the tunnel’s length was extended, according to DeLuca, to save several historic buildings. ![]() 18 tour of several flood mitigation project sites. Mark DeLuca, deputy director of the Howard County Department of Public Works, discusses the unique challenges brought about from waterways that travel under housing in historic Ellicott City during an Aug. Ranging between 12 feet and 15 feet in diameter, the tunnel will help maintain the Hudson’s water levels by splintering the water flow during heavy rains to prevent the branch from flowing over its banks. The north tunnel, which Ball calls the “single most impactful project in our Safe and Sound plan,” will be buried 60 feet to 80 feet down, starting at the 8800 block of Frederick Road and running parallel to Main Street for 5,000 feet to exit at the Patapsco River. “The ponds … will keep the volume of water down so you don’t get massive flooding.” “Down where all the rivers come together, there will be significantly less flow,” said Mark DeLuca, deputy director of the Howard County Department of Public Works. Each acre-foot is approximately 326,000 gallons of water. Designed to hold water and then release it slowly once the danger has passed, five dry flood ponds, ranging in size from the 10-acre-foot Quaker Mill pond off Rogers Avenue to the 70-acre-foot T1 pond on the Tiber tributary, are included in the plan. The state has committed more than $20 million to Howard County to assist in flood mitigation and resilience efforts, including $2.4 million for the creation of the 13-acre-foot H7 pond, which began Aug. Baltimore Sun eNewspaper Home Page Close Menu
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