![]() ![]() I'm really sad, but I genuinely think that by taking my house down that the people who are upstream from me are going to be safer. HERSHER: So when the county said it wanted to buy her house to make room for the water, Beth agreed to move. It could happen multiple times in a year. And the more she learned about what had caused the floods, the more worried she got.īETH WOODRUFF: Like, the science is here. She and her son watched the second flood tear through the neighborhood. Beth Woodruff lived across the street from Gayle. HERSHER: But after the second deadly flash flood, some of her neighbors were ready to leave. KILLEN: You know, I tell them this place is worth sticking around and working for. KILLEN: Family and very dear friends will say, what are you doing here? Why are you still here? You know, especially if you know what's coming, why are you here? What's wrong with you? Her house has personally flooded multiple times. HERSHER: Gayle is aware that the street is prone to flooding. You see a lot of things that connect you to our greater community. KILLEN: When you walk through Ellicott City and when you discover what's inside of those buildings, you see where slaves were hidden on their path to freedom. HERSHER: Gayle Killen's house on Main Street is from the early 1800s. And sometimes, those people were neighbors. And for others, not tearing down those same buildings was unconscionable. But the idea that the people of Ellicott City, Md., would allow buildings to be demolished on their beloved historic Main Street was too much for some to bear. And engineers said that tearing down buildings would help by making room for the water. REBECCA HERSHER, BYLINE: The goal was to keep people safe during the next flash flood because it would happen again. Tearing down part of Main Street to save the rest nearly destroyed the town in a different way. And when the water receded, it was clear the community couldn't survive another deluge, so they considered a drastic solution. Get out.ĬORNISH: Three people died in those floods. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: There's people in the water. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: We are currently underwater, and I have about 15 to 30 people in here, and we are trapped inside. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: We are at Bean Hollow in old Ellicott City on Frederick Road. UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Ma'am, what's going on? This is what it sounded like when residents called 911. Now to the small town in Maryland hit by two flash floods in two years. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |