Ellicott City flood victims return for first time as cleanup continues

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ELLICOTT CITY, Md. - As Ellicott City business owners and residents are allowed to return to their damaged properties for the first time since catastrophic flooding struck the town Sunday, the body of a man who went missing during the flooding has now been recovered, police say.

Eddison "Eddie" Hermond was found Tuesday by searchers in the Patapsco River, just across the Baltimore County line, officials say.

Friends had been anxiously awaiting news while search crews continued efforts to find the 39-year-old man from Severn, who reportedly was washed away as the intense floodwaters surged down Main Street.

Friends say Hermond, a sergeant with the National Guard and an Air Force veteran, was trying to help rescue a woman and her cat behind the La Palapa restaurant when he was overcome by the brown rushing water.

Shop owners and residents in flood-damaged areas are being given a small window of time to survey losses and gather belongings, officials say. People are being escorted to their properties between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. after they have been credentialed. Once there, 10 minutes will be given to access their property and to take away only what can be carried. A state of emergency remains in place in the city.

Many of Ellicott City's residents and business owners are set on rebuilding following Sunday's flash flooding. Others, who had just reestablished themselves following the 2016 disaster, don't think they can put themselves through the ordeal again.

"I don't know what to say is going to happen to Ellicott City," said Joan Eve Shea-Cohen, an antique shop owner in the historic mill town who reopened after the previous flood. "I don't. It's not going to be me there though. I don't think so. I can't go through this again.