Howard County opens section of Ellicott City no access zone for residents

Some of the people forced from their Ellicott City homes and businesses by flooding over the weekend were allowed to return to grab a few things on Thursday.

“We get paid off of our music and it's just feels so good to have everything I've worked for in the last 5 years in my hand right now,” said Jayden Clariden, a Main Street resident.

Related: Potential building collapse in Ellicott City suspends recovery effort

With empty bags and bins people were driven down to their homes or businesses for roughly 10 minutes.
Khaldoun Alghatrif stopped by his newly-opened gallery.

“We moved in 3 weeks, and yah this happened,” he said.

His store sustained some damage but he said he can't compare it to other's loss, particularly the families of the two people killed in the flood.

“I wish we lost all of the businesses and not to have any person injured, it's very sad. I feel very bad for their families,” said Alghatrif.

.@HoCoGov opens section of no access zone for residents/businesses to grab some items. Gators lined up @ABC2NEWS pic.twitter.com/yrXTR7Mf2W

— Mallory Sofastaii (@MalloryABC2) August 4, 2016

Approximately 40 residents and 27 businesses accessed their properties in the Main Street flood zone. A small number of properties are still not accessible, but residents will be able to view the outside of those homes and businesses to assess damage.

On Wednesday, Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said two flood-damaged buildings on Lower Main Street will need to be demolished. The addresses of those to buildings are 8101, 8107, 8109, and 8113.

Another challenge the county faced was dealing with a sewage leak caused by the storm. Just after 5 p.m. Thursday, the Howard County Bureau of Utilities reported that the overflow was stopped. The Maryland Department of the Environment estimated that five millions of gallons of sewage was overflowing into the Patapsco River each day.

Safety personnel will continue to bring down anyone displaced by the flooding until 7:30 p.m. Thursday. There will be another opportunity on Friday from 11 a.m. through 7:30 p.m. at Saint Peters Episcopal Church.

Follow Mallory Sofastaii on Twitter @MalloryABC2 and on Facebook @mallorysofastaii.