ELLICOTT CITY, MD -- After devastating flooding in Ellicott City, Md., the lower part of town is off limits due to dangerous conditions.
In other parts of the flood area, families are assessing the damage and starting the long process of cleaning up.
Residents and business owners still reeling from the 2016 flood damage said they don't know if rebuilding a second time is possible.
“I’m still in the hole financially, I’ve never recovered.l I will never recover from that flood,” said Brenda Franz. “And I know I’ll never recover from this, if I can get myself up and running.”
Franz runs an antique shop in downtown Ellicott City. She rushed to the roof of her building and was rescued by firefighters on Sunday afternoon.
“I thought I was going to die in that building by myself. I’ve never been around water like that, when you hear it rushing in from all sides and your helpless,” she said.
Kali Harris lives in Ellicott City and said she still suffers trauma after the last flood.
Sunday's flooding came as a shock.
PHOTOS: Significant Ellicott City flooding over Memorial Day weekend
“I was in disbelief. I just couldn’t believe that it was happening again,” Harris said. "I started watching the buildings collapsing and I just kept saying ‘no this isn’t happening again, there’s no way.'"
When asked if she has the emotional and physical energy to rebuild a second time, Harris was uncertain.
“No. I really actually don’t know,” she said.
The biggest question now: did the county do enough to mitigate future flooding, given the damage caused in 2016?
A gaggle of officials took the microphone at a press conference on Monday afternoon with mixed answers.
Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman defended progress after the flood 22 months ago.
“I think Ellicott city was as prepared as it could be. When you have rain coming down as high as eight inches or more over a certain period time, terrible things happen,” he said.
Jim Irvin, the head of the Department of Public Works in Howard County, listed off accomplishments during the press conference.
“We have a major plan in place to upgrade the storm water conveyance system in this area,” Irvin said. “We’ve been working pretty much non-stop on reconstructing the channels.”
However, Irvin admitted the county was able to finish only a fraction of a master plan before Sunday’s storm hit.
“I’d say we’ve completed maybe 30 percent of the things we wanted to get done,” Irvin said.
A progress report updated on May 16 showed 28 percent of people displaced from their homes during the 2016 flood still had not moved back in. The report noted 96 percent of businesses were back open.
After speaking with residents and business owners, one message rang clearly: rebuilding is exhausting when nature proves it doesn’t spare communities still limping along.
