The bodies of the two dead people in the major floods in the downtown area of Ellicott City were both were discovered on the Baltimore County side of the Patapsco River early Sunday morning.
This type of destruction is a first for Ellicott City. The damage from Hurricane Agnes in 1972 wasn't as bad.
The victims -- a man and woman-- were found dead on the Baltimore County side of the Patapsco River after flood waters ripped through the heart of the city.
The victims are Jessica Watsula, 35, of Lebanon, Pa.; and Joseph Anthony Blevins, 38, of Windsor Mill.
Watsula's body was found about 2:20 a.m. Sunday morning near Ilchester Bridge. Her brother told police that they were visiting Ellicott City with their family when the floods occurred. The passengers got out of the car, and the victim was swept away.
Her family members were transported to an area hospital.
Watsula was the mother of a 10-year-old girl named Sarah. Her brother is now raising money to help support Sarah. If you would like to donate to the Watsula family, click here.
Blevins' body was discovered at about 8:30 a.m. on Sunday when a man walking a trail found the body washed up on shore near Ilchester Road and the Howard County line.
Police say Blevins was in Ellicott City with his girlfriend. The vehicle was swept away with the couple insidem but the woman got out of the vehicle and was rescued, but Blevins was swept away.
Police say there are no reports of missing people.
Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said, "This will not defeat us. We will become a stronger, better community because that's who we are."
Nearly six inches of rain fell in just two hours, which equivalent of a whole month of rain normally.
In all, 170 cars washed away. They're being located and towed to a nearby high school.
"So much is gone," said Kelli Myers who owns "A Journey from Junk." I mean there is nothing left in there it is just washed out so antique dealers have been here for years."
Building officials inspected about 200 properties in the city. As many as thirty have substantial damage and at least four are completely destroyed.
Many residents are questioning the city's flood mitigation plan.
"We put a lot of effort into it. We dedicated $1.8M a year for next 10 years to try to work on this, but when you have this kind of rain in two hours there's probably nothing that could of been done to stop it," said Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman.
More than 24 hours later, the water is back on and utility work is underway, but building up Ellicott city again will take time.
Myers said, "This is our livelihood. This is coming up to our busy season. We just don't know. "
The Maryland Emergency Management Agency and an incident management team from Pennsylvania are assisting with the cleanup.
Want to help? Find out what you can do to help the residents of Ellicott City.
