OLD ELLICOTT CITY, Md. — As Howard County prepares to mark 10 years since the devastating flood of 2016, it will also reach a major milestone in its efforts to make sure it never happens again.
150 feet below the surface of the picturesque historic town of the Patapsco Valley, the work continues for a rainy day.
An experience that many, including flood survivor Heather Owens, remembers what that may mean. She made it out, though her fiancé Joe Blevins did not.
North Tunnel project nearing major milestone
"What started out as an ordinary evening turned into chaos within minutes. The water came so fast, so violently. There was no time to think, only time to try to survive," Owens recalls. "Flooding isn't just water, it's loss, it's trauma. it's something that stays with you long after the streets dry," she said.
After two years of construction of the North Tunnel expansion project, a cornerstone of Howard County's "Safe and Sound" initiative, mining by a 140,000-pound tunnel boring machine named "Rocky" is expected to begin soon.
It's the largest public works project in county history and an engineering marvel.
"At full capacity, the tunnel can move more than 26,000 gallons of water per second off of main street and safely into the Patapsco river," County Executive Calvin Ball said.
But first, crews will have to cut through a mile of solid granite to get there. Once the machine begins moving forward, it can remove 90 dump trucks' worth of material in a single day. During its launch its length measures around 300 feet long, and can expand to 460 feet.
"We're not just responding to disasters; We are preparing for them," state Senator Katie Fry Hester said. "It's truly an honor, a promise kept, and a dream come true for the town."
State leaders say they fought an upstream battle in Annapolis to secure funding for flood mitigation.
Growing the mere $500,000 set aside for it back in 2019, to the now $70 million and counting.
An In Focus look at other Ellicott City Safe and Sound projects
"Getting dollars for a massive tunnel under a historic hillside with houses on it made of granite isn't exactly a simple budget line item, but I'm proud to say here we are, literally walking through the results," Delegate Courtney Watson said.
Something that may finally bring some peace of mind, and hope for the future, even when skies are gray.
"Nothing will bring Joe back. Nothing will undo that night. But knowing that something is being built to protect others, that matters," Owens said.
