Residents, business owners heading off to drop-off points for today's cleanup in .
— Liz Anderson (@PlanetNoun)
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. —聽A week after the flooding in Ellicott City, residents, business owners and property owners returned to clean up.聽From noon to 8 p.m. Sunday, people removed trash and debris from their properties and helped others with the cleanup.
Van Fochios lives a few minutes from Old Ellicott City. He and his sister were part of a group at least 10 deep who planned to help start tidying up at , an Italian restaurant along Main Street.
鈥淛ust trying to get it back to normal,鈥� he said. Their plans were to help primarily at 笔辞谤迟补濒濒颈鈥檚, but added, 鈥淚f any other places need it, we鈥檒l just be moving around and helping.鈥�
Claudia Fochios found out about the 笔辞谤迟补濒濒颈鈥檚 cleanup after the restaurant owner posted on social media. She told WTOP that Main Street is one of their favorite hangout locations, and she often spends time catching up with friends at 笔辞谤迟补濒濒颈鈥檚 bar.
She recounted, 鈥淚t鈥檚 your old 鈥楥heers鈥� bar. You know, you walk in, you know everybody, you know the bartenders, you know your friends are there鈥t鈥檚 one of those places where it really is your home away from home.鈥�
Matthew Milani also came out for the cleanup. He owns The Rumor Mill Fusion Bar and Restaurant. He said Sunday was assessment day, and he planned to see what assistance is available from the city and county, along with federal and state aid.
Milani didn鈥檛 expect to feel shocked after seeing the damage because it was his fourth visit since last week’s聽flood. However, he noted it might be a more sentimental day.
鈥淭hings that you see in the mud, that you鈥檝e seen everyday for the last 10 years. You know, our building needs us more now than it ever has, so we鈥檙e really going to try and make things work, and figure out what we can do,鈥� Milani said.
George Fitzgerald says his fingers were crossed while traveling to his collectibles store inside the .
鈥淚 had no damage at all,鈥� he said. While he told聽WTOP he felt blessed, he added, 鈥淢y heart goes out to anyone who was injured, lost their lives or lost their homes.鈥�
In the meantime, another Main Street business owner who lost everything is looking for help to rebuild what he has worked to establish during the past 10 years.
The owner of Johnny鈥檚 Bistro on Main described a mud-caked dining room and said pots, pans, and everything else in the dining room floated away during the flood.
鈥淭he kitchen area took the worst鈥roken glass from the windows. That鈥檚 where all the water came in,鈥� said Johnny Breidenbach. 鈥淚t鈥檚 devastating, overwhelming what I saw.鈥�
Breidenbach put in a call to his insurance company, but said, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have flood insurance. They鈥檙e not touching it.鈥� He has set up .
“There’s a lot of worker ants down there today,” Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman noted of the cleanup effort.
The county provided several dumpsters and聽garbage bags for business owners to toss trash and debris. He added, “They’re shoveling out a lot of mud, a lot of dirt and making big differences. Ellicott City looks totally different…from what it was just last week this time.”
Baltimore Ravens’ wide receiver Michael Campanaro, who grew up in Ellicott City, spent several hours walking through Main Street, taking in the damage and talking with residents, business owners and volunteers on his day off from training camp.
鈥淚t鈥檚 tough to see, but the people are so positive, and they鈥檙e so many volunteers helping out. It鈥檚 awesome, just to see the people rallying around each other,” Campanaro said.
Last week, Campanaro .
Here are some other recovery efforts happening:
- The Disaster Assistance Center has served 102 residents and 96 businesses. The center, located at 9401 Frederick Rd., 聽is a “one-stop shop” for Ellicott City property owners to聽get information about agencies and organizations that can offer assistance with recovery.
- The Howard County Office of Workforce Development will hold a job fair on Monday from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Disaster Assistance Center on Frederick Road.
- Twenty-five vehicles are still at Centennial High School.聽If owners have not removed their vehicles before 8 p.m. Sunday, the remaining vehicles will be towed to an impound facility at the owner’s expense.
Monetary donations to help Ellicott City can be done through Ellicott City Partnership, and .
To learn more about the recovery efforts and how to participate, go to the .
