Over the weekend, I went back to my parents’ home to prepare them to move away from the Ellicott City house we’ve called home for the past decade. We were hit with an unexpectedly strong storm, watching our windows and doors struggle to shield us from the torrential downpour and trees losing their grip on their branches that littered our yard.

But we got off easy.

A picture of flooding on Main Street Ellicott City. #HoCoMD pic.twitter.com/3AYg3MJNit

— Allan H. Kittleman (@HoCoGovExec) July 31, 2016

When I woke up Sunday morning to birds chirping and sun shining, I learned that the historic district of our town, just a five minute drive from my house, had been devastated by historic flooding.

That is footage from the window of a restaurant I’ve eaten at with my family, of a road that I’ve walked down and driven down hundreds of times. Saturday evening, when 6 inches of rain fell in less than 2 hours, cars were swept along Main Street like leaves on a river. The historic and iconic clock was also washed away.

Lives were lost. Homes were destroyed. Businesses were wrecked.

If you are able, please help rebuild this community however you can. Community members are looking for others who can provide meals, provide housing for displaced residents, volunteer to clean up, donate goods/supplies for the clean up efforts, and donate funds, but are of course welcoming any other forms of help as well.

Yes, Ellicott City has a history of flooding. It’s well-documented, both on Wikipedia and physically in the historic district itself. But it doesn’t make this latest, which meteorologists have called a once-in-a-millenia-scale flood, any less devastating.

Governor Hogan has declared a state of emergency while Ellicott City and the surrounding area try to rebuild. Any help would be appreciated.