Owners claim vehicles damaged in Ellicott City flood

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. - Owners got their first look at vehicles damaged during the weekend flooding in Ellicott City.

The vehicles were moved out of the flood zone to the parking lot at Centennial High School. Owners started to arrive at around 8 a.m. Tuesday to see if their cars and trucks survived the disaster.

The damaged vehicles covered a broad spectrum - from those that showed obvious signs of being tossed around in the flood waters to those that had no visible damage at all.

FOX 5's Melanie Alnwick says that most of the owners she saw Tuesday morning were able to drive away in their vehicles. Some were spotted photographing vehicles that were too damaged to be moved.

Carla Pregnolato, National Sales Manager at FOX 5, was one of the owners who arrived early to claim their vehicle. She told us that she was dinning at an Ellicott City restaurant when the flood waters struck.

"My car was parked at the bottom of the hill on Main Street," Pregnolato said. "We were in Cocoa Lane, and we evacuated out of the building, through the woods, up the hill where kind strangers took about twelve of us into their house."

She said that the experience was terrifying and that the flood waters missed her vehicle by only a few feet.

"Being in that restaurant and seeing everything just slide down that hill was - it was just a terrifying thing to see," she said.

Adam Evans said he knew his car had not survived the flood after he saw images of it during news coverage. "It's just a car, you know. It's replaceable. Thankfully we all got out." He told Alnwick

He said he was amazed by the damage water did to his vehicle. He said he also watched videos of his car floating in the flood water.

Evans said he was dining at Portalli's Italian Restaurant when the flood struck and says he was able to escape without injury.

Alnwick said that the vehicles will remain in the parking lot of the school until Sunday.