RNRN Disaster Watch: Second “1000 year flood event” Strikes Ellicott City, MD in Span of Two Years
RN Response Network is closely monitoring any needs for assistance in the wake of the devastating floods that swept through the community of Ellicott City, Maryland on Sunday afternoon, prompting a State of Emergency Declaration across the state.
Storefronts and buildings were battered by a wall of water that ripped through the historic downtown district on Sunday afternoon, sweeping away cars and damaging homes and businesses — some of which were still working to recover from a similar flood in 2016. Several hundred customers remained without electric and gas service as of Monday afternoon, and local officials said they received over 1000 emergency calls from affected residents between 4 and 10 p.m. on Sunday. Shelters have opened to assist displaced residents, and one person remains missing in the wake of the flooding.
“I would say it’s as bad or worse than the storms two years ago. They say this is a once every 1,000 year flood, and we’ve had two of them in two years,” Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said when issuing the statewide disaster declaration. Howard County Fire and EMS tweeted that at the height of the storm, water levels were above the first floor of some of the buildings.
RNRN/NNU is in touch with local officials and is standing by to provide assistance for the victims of the storm, including deploying medical volunteers should they become necessary. We appreciate the support of our volunteers, including being ready and willing to deploy at a moment’s notice. RNRN has provided teams of nurses to disasters across the US and around the world, most recently in the wake of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, and Hurricane Harvey in Houston. “This is what we do as nurses — we go where we are needed, and we help,” said volunteer Dotty Nygard, RN who deployed with RNRN to Houston, Texas in the wake of Hurricane Harvey in September, 2017. “I’m proud to be a member of RNRN and NNU because we can use our expertise at a crucial time when people are hurting and suffering.”
RNRN Disaster Watch: Subtropical Storm Alberto
Subtropical Storm Alberto, the first named storm of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season, made landfall late yesterday near Laguna Beach Florida between Panama City Beach and Destin. Flash flooding was reported in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Wilmington, North Carolina areas, with rain totals of up to 7 inches or more reported across the region. Water levels north of Tampa Bay and westward to the Mississippi Delta in Louisiana rose to 1 to 3 feet above normal tide levels around the time of landfall. Two deaths, local journalists who were covering the storm, were reported in North Carolina on Monday.
In Cuba, where the outer bands of the storm dropped about 12 inches of rain, the storm shut down railroad service, an oil refinery and parts of the highway system. 20,000 people were evacuated across the island.
According to NOAA’s historical database, Alberto is only the third named storm to form in the Gulf of Mexico in May, and was also the longest-lived Atlantic named storm that formed in May in 65 years. Forecasters note that the storm remains capable of potentially life-threatening flash floods, with warnings in effect in areas including the Florida Panhandle and a swath of Alabama, Georgia, the piedmont of the Carolinas, southwest Virginia, much of Tennessee, western and central Kentucky, as well as parts of southern Illinois and Indiana.
RNRN will continue to monitor the storm’s progress and prepare for any potential deployment needs for RNRN volunteers.
If you would like to support RNRN in our deployments of RNs to provide disaster relief when and where it is needed, you can support our efforts here: DONATE.
You can learn more about RNRN, or how to volunteer to be there for those in need here.
RNRN, a project of the California Nurses Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, is a national network of direct-care RNs powered by National Nurses United (NNU) that coordinates sending volunteer RNs to disaster stricken areas where and when they are needed.
