ELLICOTT CITY, Md. 鈥� As Ellicott City business owners comb through the muck and take stock of what鈥檚 salvageable and what may have to be tossed, the questions they have to answer about whether reopening is in their future will vary from door-to-door and block-to-block.
While initial reports seem to suggest the 2018 flood was worse than the 2016 flood, a lot depends on where you live or where you set up your business.
鈥淚n some places it鈥檚 not as bad, in some places it鈥檚 worse, and in some places it鈥檚 about the same,鈥� said Rick Winter, the owner of the
Winter had a special machine sucking out moist air and pumping back dry air back into the brewpub on Thursday afternoon.
His restaurant sits prominently on Main Street and is right on top of the Tiber Branch, which was one of the main sources of flooding.
“We’re coming back 100 percent,” he said without any hesitation.
His timeline to reopen is both ambitious and defiant.
鈥淚f all goes according to our plan we鈥檒l be open within four weeks or five weeks,鈥� Winter said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just a question of, is everything else ready for us to be ready?鈥�
He has batches of beer ready to go that he said would stay good if the electricity gets back up and running soon.
Winter said last Sunday’s flood put about an inch of water on the first floor of his business, meaning the basement was totally inundated. But he also had the water pumped out within 36 hours, whereas in 2016 it took a week to do that.
Winter plans on replacing everything he is lost but pointed out he lost a lot less this time than in 2016.
鈥淲e had to replace all the gas pipes in the building because it didn鈥檛 pass the pressure test,鈥� Winter said. 鈥淭hose are all new now, relatively, and the water didn鈥檛 touch them. So those pipes should be fine, we shouldn鈥檛 have to replace those. That took time [in 2016], time and money.鈥�
Since none of the buildings is in imminent danger of collapse, money could end up being the ultimate factor in deciding who reopens and who moves on.
It’s a decision that will lead to some difficult and uncomfortable conversations among those who made their living on Main Street.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 any building that鈥檚 falling down today, but there might be some that somebody might look at and say, 鈥榊ou know, I鈥檓 not willing to put the money into that,鈥欌�� said Howard County Executive Alan Kittleman. 鈥淚 want to tell them that it鈥檒l always be OK.”
But he acknowledged the threat of dangerous and decimating flooding will never completely go away as long as Main Street exists in its current location, a fact that is starting to sink in now.
鈥淚 think we owe it to them to say we鈥檙e working the best we can to mitigate, and mitigate doesn鈥檛 mean eliminate, it means mitigate, try to make it less, and we鈥檙e trying to do that. The discussions we had after 2016 will be different now in 2018,鈥� Kittleman said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have some different options we鈥檒l be looking at, some different ideas, because this is a game changer in many ways, 2016 was too. But to have two of these in two years is a real game changer.鈥�
Kittleman and other Howard County leaders stress that they will do everything they can within reason to help support the choices people ultimately wind up making about living and working on Main Street. They know some businesses will stay and some will not.
History could be a factor. The binds of decades, or even centuries, of existence will make it difficult, if not impossible, for some people to give up on their homes or businesses. The county isn鈥檛 ready to push anyone to do that.
鈥淚f someone came to us now and said 鈥業 want to build a house on a stream鈥� we鈥檇 say, ‘No, you can鈥檛,’鈥� Kittleman said. 鈥淏ut they鈥檝e had these buildings there for 100 years, 200 years, and so we鈥檙e not going to tell them if they want to rebuild that we鈥檙e not even going to consider letting them do that.鈥�
People who decided leave now could wind up changing their mind in the future once the shock of the loss from the latest flood wears off County Councilman Jon Weinstein conceded.
鈥淭his is no fault of anybody鈥檚,鈥� Winter said. 鈥淭his is Act of God stuff.鈥�
But not everyone appears to be ready to take another leap of faith.
