Fears for hero Md. flood
Town devastated as vet still missing
A National Guardsman remained missing Monday after flash floods destroyed a historic main street in a picturesque Maryland town and left a community heartbroken at seeing more devastation less than two years after rebuilding from another massive deluge.
Eddison Hermond, 39, of Severn, Md., was last seen trying to help a woman rescue her cat behind a restaurant while churning waters ripped through Ellicott City’s downtown.
Howard County Police Chief Gary Gardner said the missing Guardsman and Air Force vet had been with a group at the La Palapa Grill & Cantina when he saw the woman in need.
“He, along with some other folks, went back to assist her, and unfortunately during that effort, they saw him go under water and not surface,” Gardner said.
Simon Cortes, who owns La Palapa, described Hermond as “a super nice guy” who was frequently out in the community showing support as it rebuilt after the July 2016 flood.
Some are already asking whether enough was done after the last flood to prevent a similar catastrophe.
Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said that his immediate priorities are finding the missing man and assessing the condition of damaged buildings that housed shops, restaurants and families.
The Main Street area remained blocked off Monday, even to residents and business owners, as teams of engineers surveyed the heartbreaking mess.
“If you look at the devastation and the damage, I would certainly say it’s worse than 2016,” Kittleman said.
“We’ve had areas that were not even damaged at all two years ago terribly damaged this time.”
Ellicott City certainly got the worst of it. But torrential rains led to such bad flooding in Baltimore County, Baltimore City and the capital of Annapolis that Gov. Larry Hogan on Sunday declared a statewide state of emergency in order to better coordinate support and assistance.
Ellicott City has been methodically rebuilding since the 2016 flooding damaged and destroyed businesses.
Local officials recently said that 96 percent of the businesses were back in operation and more than 20 new businesses had again opened in the Main Street area.