This choke point is located, unfortunately, in the downtown area floodwaters from upstream were constricted, increasing the water velocity and its power to carry things along with in it its way. Four small rivers converge at a choke point where last week’s flood waves arrived at similar times. Ellicott City is located in a small and high-sloping drainage basin, or catchment, which acted as a funnel. Other principal contributing factors to the flooding were topography and development. Some locations in the area experienced even more rain than Ellicott City, with the National Weather Service reporting up to 10.38 inches. Between Ellicott City and Baltimore strong and slow-moving thunderstorms with just about nowhere to go formed and reformed-almost a textbook example of what meteorologists call training convection. Near record-high levels of atmospheric moisture and a stalled cold front were among the factors that contributed to the quantity of rain that fell. ![]() In addition to a flash flood emergency for Ellicott City, a flood warning was issued for locations along the Patapsco River in Anne Arundel, Howard, and Baltimore counties. Such an astonishing amount of rainfall in just about three hours corresponds to a greater than 1,000-year return period event, according to NOAA’s precipitation frequency data set. ![]() What would typically have been two month’s worth of rain-about 8 inches-fell mostly in the three hours between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. (Source: AIR, ESRI Basemaps and the FEMA WebMapping service) Significant RainfallĪs in 2016, last week’s flash flooding followed prodigious amounts of precipitation falling on the area in a short space of time. The 100 and 500-year floodplains in the Ellicott City catchment in blue and red, respectively. Main Street follows the steep valley of the Tiber down to the Patapsco River. It was a mill town said to be built around seven hills through which streams converge on a small river, aptly named the Tiber. Today, Ellicott City is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, but it originated as a rural community that prospered by harnessing the location’s great potential for water power. Most were associated with the Patapsco River, but according to Preservation Maryland, last week’s event was Ellicott City’s 15 th catastrophic flash flood since 1768. Sadly, such inundation is nothing new for Ellicott City, for it has experienced many major floods in the past. ![]() This event hit the headlines, thanks to dramatic video footage and because it is even worse than the major flooding there in July 2016. Late in the afternoon two waves of intense flooding surged down picturesque Main Street up to 8 feet deep, inundating first floors and basements, washing vehicles away, and depositing tons of debris and mud tragically, a life was lost. While most flood events in Ellicott City have been a result of the Patapsco River overflowing its banks and flooding the city, these two most recent events have been a result of a torrent of water rushing downhill through the town into the river.On May 27 dramatic flash flooding wreaked havoc in the historic center of Ellicott City, 13 miles west of Baltimore in Maryland. ![]() However, the 20 floods are more unique in the manner in which they occurred. A few of the more notable recent floods in 1972, 1975, and 2011 were caused by tropical cyclones that brought widespread flooding across several states, but many of the events including the recent 20 floods were more localized. In a way water is part of the city’s heritage – it was a town that was settled for its proximity to water and the advantage that the high volume and fast moving water provided to the mills. The city has undergone major flooding over a dozen times since its founding in the 1700s. Ellicott City’s location among several creeks and streams that converge nearby into the Patapsco River renders it prone to flash flooding, and the town has seen more than its share of major floods over the years.
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