WASHINGTON 鈥� It鈥檚 one eye on the sky, the other on the streams in downtown Ellicott City, where potentially heavy rain remains in the forecast over the next few days.
The worst of the storms came Thursday but did not bring any flash flooding. Tiber Creek could be seen flowing gently Friday morning.
But the potential for flooding still exists on Friday and Saturday, prompting county leaders to issue warnings and share what they鈥檝e done to mitigate聽鈥� though not eliminate聽鈥� the chances for more flooding.
鈥淲e鈥檙e starting at the basics, which are the channels which is where all the receiving water goes to, to get out to the Patapsco River,” said Jim Irvin, the director of public works in Howard County.
鈥淭hey were filled up with an incredible amount of debris 鈥� and we鈥檝e concentrated focusing on pulling out the blocks and plugs along the downtown area,鈥� Irvin said.
So far, that means about 100 truckloads of sand, mud, muck, trees and whatever else was washed out Sunday night has been hauled away already. At the same time, new temporary curbs and sandbags have been put in place to help guide water into the storm drains where curbs and gutters were washed away. But the storm drains and sewer pipes are also still a problem.
鈥淎 lot of the inlets are filled up with sand, bricks from the sidewalk and miscellaneous debris,鈥� said Irvin. 鈥淲e鈥檙e also trying to suck out the materials in the pipes themselves so we have as much capacity to process the stormwater.鈥�
Tarps have been set up along one side of Hill Street, which suffered serious erosion last weekend. Irvin said the hope is that the tarps will keep any more of the 鈥渃liff鈥�-like remnants from washing away, compromising the road itself as well as some of the nearby homes.
In the end, it鈥檚 not really the amount of rain over the next few days that鈥檚 going to have people worried, but how fast it comes down.
鈥淚f it鈥檚 spread out over a longer period of time, then we should be OK,鈥� said Irvin. 鈥淚f it comes down in a deluge, then we could potentially have flooding again.”
鈥淚f we get 3 inches or 5 inches of rain in one hour, you鈥檙e going to have flooding,鈥� Irvin said.
The concern isn鈥檛 just for the immediate Main Street area, 鈥渂ut also what happens upstream of Ellicott City,鈥� said Irvin. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just what falls on Ellicott City, it鈥檚 what falls on Valley Mede and the upstream areas.鈥�
