Ellicott City, MD -- For the second time in two years, residents in Ellicott City, Md. are dealing with unimaginable damage and heartbreak after another flood devastated the city.
The flash flood came in two waves, survivors said.
The first overwhelmed Frederick Road in the town's West End. Those who saw the first pulse begin to to hastily collect belongings to get out. Then it started raining hard again.
"It happened so fast there was nothing we could do," said D.J. Scheckelhoff who abandoned his escape plan and headed to the upper floor of his rented row home.
Then water tore away large parts of the building's foundation, which was unaffected by the previous catastrophic flood in 2016.
That's when Scheckelhoff and his partner Kristen Wright began to fear they might not make it.
Luckily the seven unit building did not collapse. But in the aftermath on Monday, residents question whether the structure that stood through the 2016 flood will now have to be torn down after a disaster that appears to be even greater.
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Locations that survived intact in 2016, but were damaged or destroyed by Sunday's flash flood were widespread in Ellicott City.
Ellicott Mills Drive, and the entire berm it was built on at the intersection with Frederick Road was entirely washed away.
The historic stone cottage that locals call "The Old Courthouse" was destroyed. The upper parking area surrounding it was completely torn apart, with large slabs of asphalt swept down the stream.
In 2016, the same area was used to stage rescuers and recovery workers. It is now an unusable wasteland.
Farther down Main Street there are cars wrapped around telephone poles. Large new sections of sidewalk and street are buckled or missing. Major underground utilities that were rebuilt in 2016 are exposed in open pits, or simply hanging in mid-air.
The devastation is catastrophic.
A quick inspection showed much, if not all, of the infrastructure that was rebuilt in the past two years was destroyed.
An official assessment is not complete.
