Maryland city cleaning up after second flood in two years

Water rushes through Main Street in Ellicott City. Photo / AP

Local officials of the American city of Ellicott say they are heartbroken after flash floods caused major damage and sent cars floating down main streets less than two years after another devastating flood the killed two people.

As the flood waters receded yesterday, officials in the Maryland community were just beginning the grim task of assessing the destruction.

Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said authorities weren't aware of any fatalities or missing people. But first responders and rescue officials were still going through the muddied, damaged downtown and conducting safety checks.

Kittleman said the damage was significant and appeared to him to be worse than that caused by almost two summers ago.

A parked car is flooded in a lot near Main Street and Ellicott Mills Road. Photo / AP

Residents and business owners, Kittleman said, "are faced with the same daunting task again".

Governor Larry Hogan also toured the area and promised "every bit of assistance we possibly can". "They say this is a once every 1000-year flood and we've had two of them in two years," Hogan said.

The flooding yesterday swept away parked cars in Ellicott City, set along the west bank of Maryland's Patapsco River 20km west of Baltimore.

Jessica Ur, a server at Pure Wine Cafe on the city's Main Street, told the Baltimore Sun that she watched as gushing waters swept three or four parked cars down the street.

"It's significantly higher than it was before," she told the newspaper, comparing the floodwaters to those of 2016.

Mike Muccilli, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sterling, Virginia, said it was too early to make comparisons between the two floods. But he said both were devastating.

In July 2016, Ellicott City received 17cm of rain in less than three hours. Yesterday, the community received nearly 20.5cm of rain over six hours, but most of it fell during an intense, three-hour period, Muccilli said.

"In a normal heavy rain event, you wouldn't see this amount of flooding, where you see cars floating down the road," Muccilli said.

"This was a true flash flood."