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My Saturday night on Main Street. -- (edited)

Posted by Inigo (aka Inigo) Aug 1 '16, 06:39
We left the house for Erin's birthday dinner at Pure Wine, and the rain seemed to lessen. By the time we got to Main St at 7pm, it was pouring again. I offered to drop her off at the restaurant a number of times, but she wanted to walk together. So, we found a spot on Mulligans Hill Lane about thirty feet up and off from Main St. I put the parking brake on instinctively. When we got out of the car, Erin tried to keep me dry with her umbrella, but it was just pouring water on my back. So, I ran up to the restaurant thinking I'd be less wet that way. Wrong. I have never been more drenched in my life. A nice woman, from inside the restaurant, gave me her napkin to dry off with.

As hard as it was raining, there was no flooding at that point. It just looked like a normal thunderstorm. Erin and her three friends got to the restaurant, and we all had a table on the second floor next to two windows. Pretty much all of the businesses on Main St. are converted row houses, and Pure Wine is like that, too. So, the windows were above us, and the only way to see out to the street below is to stand up on bench seats and look out. But we were there to eat, and weren't paying any attention to the rain. We ordered wine and food, and were chatting about everyday life. About 3 or 4 appetizers got to the table after about 15 minutes, and we ate happily.

About 15 minutes later, our waitress came to our table, and said we needed to close out our bill because they had some flooding downstairs, and couldn't serve food anymore. Bummer. Didn't sound that bad, right? So, we discussed where we could go to finish our meal, and came up with a plan. A few minutes later, people come running up the stairs to our level, and go out the balcony door. There's a lot of loud gasps when they look outside. So, we jump up on our benches, and look out the windows. That was when we saw the raging river coming down Main St. All of us knew we weren't going anywhere. We said so to our waitress as they seemed hurried to close the checks still.

Then we saw one car float down the street. It was like we watching a live broadcast of it through the window. The five of us planned an escape route quickly in case the building were to start moving. Rumor was that all the Main St. businesses were on top of an underground river. People were worried the building might start floating, too. The next car coming down the street was our friend's CRV. It got stuck in the middle of the road because part of the street was lodged underneath it. A couple light poles started bending. We could see a car trapped inside a sinkhole with water rushing over top of it. The lights were on, and many were worried someone was inside.

After that, some idiocy happened. First, we saw a kayaker walking down the road, and turned onto Main St. He dissapeared from view but he was walking down Main St toward the raging river. Next, a woman in a VW, turned from safety, and put her car into the raging river downstream. Everyone was screaming at her like she was doing something ridiculous on a reality show - like she could hear us. You should all know this woman by now. She's the one who was saved by the human chain heros at the bottom of Main St. Those guys were amazing.

Eventually, the rain slowed. The river stopped, and the road was passable. I decided to walk down the road with another guy with us, and see if my car was still there. We walked 3/4th the way there, and saw destruction on the street and in the shops. Some looked like bombs went off inside. Before we could get to the street where my car was parked, rescue workers stopped us. They said they was a gas leak, and we needed to go up the hill. Another rescue worker told us the same thing, and told some knucklehead to put out her cigarette.

As we walked further, there was a load bang, and lots of screaming. People behind us were running and panicking. There was an area up the road designated for rescue, and eventually buses would come to take us home. We decided to go past that, and walk home. It didn't seem far enough away from the gas leak, and our house was only 5 miles up the road. Plus, there was a lot of stupidity going on behind us, and I wanted to get away from that. So, we started walking up the hill, and out of historic Ellicott City. There are rivers on each side of main street, and even then, they were just about 10 feet at most from spilling over.

People were out on what was left of the sidewalk trying to clean out their previously submerged cars, and talking to us as we walked up the street. I was hoping someone would eventually pick us up, and a nice older couple did. They let the five of us pile into the back of their sedan, and were amazingly friendly despite having just lost their shop in this flood. Apparently, they couldn't afford flood insurance, and had just opened the vintage jewlery shop a year and a half earlier. Despite losing their dream, they were kind to us in giving us a ride, and talking to us the whole way. When we got home, we thank them over and over. The 5 of us spent the rest of the night snacking, drinking, and reliving the crazy events of the last few hours.

Eventually, I found my car the next day. The water didn't take it away. So, so lucky. I feel so bad that our friend lost her car, and especially for the two people who died in the flood. That's the type of thing you see on TV, but never really encounter.

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