After saving for five years, Tsung Chien Chen is planning to rebuild a home he owns in Ellicott City that he knows floodwaters could condemn — again.
The Woodbine resident says he has little choice.
Chen's land, which rests on a 100-year flood plain, a low-lying area more prone to flooding, is "worthless," he said.
Rebuilding in the hopes of reselling or moving in to the house again is his only recourse, Chen said. After moving between several homes, Chen moved to Woodbine after the flood destroyed his Ellicott City home in 2011. He continues to pay $3,000 in annual property taxes on the land.
Five years ago, Tropical Storm Lee destroyed his $265,000 single-story dwelling, which is so close to Plumtree branch, a stream that feeds into the Little Patuxent watershed, that he must cross a bridge over the stream to get to his lot.
Like other areas in Valley Mede, an Ellicott City development built more than 40 years ago, the Chens' lot became a swimming pool during the July 30 flood that killed two people and swept businesses in old Ellicott City into ruin.
After recommending for years ways to mitigate flooding in Valley Mede, but rarely having the money to pay for projects to do so, Howard County officials say they will launch a comprehensive effort, including a major engineering analysis, to rectify the problem. But some residents who have lived with the flooding for years say they are skeptical of the county's commitment and that it might be too little too late.
The study, which is to be completed over the next several months, will determine the cause of increased flooding and identify future floodwater management projects in the drainage area where Valley Mede is located. Officials have not identified when the study will be completed.
In the wake of the July 30 flood, new funding is available through federal disaster aid that can be used to tackle ongoing problems in Valley Mede. But how those funds will be used will depend on the study's conclusions, officials said.
In the short-term, the county plans to restore a stream bank that collapsed during the July 30 flood by early 2018.
County and state officials also are exploring plans to widen culverts that run across Route 40 and under Long View Drive and Brooke Meade Road. A gush of water choked up the aging culverts, which are not designed for major storms, in July, pushing water to crest over roadways.
Since the early 1990s, county officials have documented problems and proposed solutions in Valley Mede. But no long-term solutions were ever implemented. Instead, the county shored up stream banks, maintained road crossings and cleared parts of the stream in a "piecemeal" approach hampered by limited funding, said Mark DeLuca, chief of the Howard County Bureau of Environmental Services.
"We've been looking for short term answers to long term problems," DeLuca said. "For long-term solutions, you need the time and money we often didn't have."
"Our approach is not going to be band-aid anymore," DeLuca added.
No place to go
Elizabeth Mason, 59, moved to Valley Mede in 1977, just five years after Hurricane Agnes swept through the area. Her basement was submerged with six-and-a-half feet of water on July 30.
Water routinely backs up in her yard on a normal day of rain — something that never happened until the 1980s. Mason believes the area's development, which removes pervious surfaces that absorb water, is causing increased flooding.
"God didn't make this stream to work as a storm drain but that's what it is now," Mason said. "All of this pavement and building and driveways and development is hitting us. The water has no place to go."
In major storms, the force of the water scours stream banks. Fallen trees and other debris block the stream's flow, while culverts are sized differently throughout the area, complicating their ability to handle water from the same source, county studies show.
Residents worry that the county's comprehensive study — one of several studies done in Valley Mede since 1991 — is yet another and too late.
A 2011 case study after Tropical Storm Lee provided recommendations for sediment removal and other flood management projects. Since then, the county has stabilized some stream banks and cleaned storm drains.
"I'm concerned there was all this stuff in 2011 that should've been done that wasn't," said Kate Martiyan, a Valley Mede resident. "The county keeps saying this is a 100-year flood as if it won't happen again. But it could any time. What happens in the meantime?"
Widening culverts was raised as a recommendation in a study 25 years ago. But at that time, there was no money in the county's capital budget to fund those projects, DeLuca said.
In the 1990s, the county also shut down a project that allows the county to buy dwellings on flood plains through a federal grant. Few people applied and there was limited funding to keep the project going, DeLuca said.
In addition, Valley Mede was built when state and federal regulations required little to no stormwater management. Twenty years ago, state and federal regulations focused on managing the quantity, not the quality, of runoff, according to studies by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Since then, the state has shifted to larger stormwater structures, such as ponds and man-made structures designed to catch and hold water.
The new study will determine if water flow patterns are changing in the area, and the role of increased development, if any, on flooding.
In some spots, exposed storm drains and sinkholes are becoming more prevalent, residents said.
Part of the problem is the county cannot easily begin stormwater management projects on private land, DeLuca said.
"We can never forget that in all of this, we're trying to reduce their risk, but never forgetting the fact that the properties are in the 100-year flood plain," he said.
'We thought we were safe'
Susan Rosenquist's home, which isn't in the 100-year flood plain, saw streams of water traverse through her backyard in July.
In Rosenquist's backyard, developers put in stormwater drains more than 40 years ago. But because the drains are located on a private easement, the county cannot maintain them, she said. Rosenquist said maintaining them would cost her between $20,000 and $50,000 — an investment that she said doesn't make sense unless the county commits to a broader, strategic plan.
"These stormwater drains are becoming dams," Rosenquist said. "Right now, it's not being managed well. If the county continues to build, then my house, which has been safe, is not going to be safe in the next one."
Other residents worry their community is overshadowed by flood recovery efforts on Main Street in Ellicott City, a historic district with quaint businesses hit hard by the July flood that is three miles from Valley Meade.
Carrie Roder, a Valley Meade resident whose house flooded in July, said a county official told her "this area was not a priority"
Responding to pressure from residents, Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said he is committed to strengthening the area's infrastructure.
"I'm here now," Kittleman told residents Thursday morning as he toured the neighborhood to hear residents' concerns.
Chen, who is married and has three children, is still picking up the pieces after his family's 2011 ordeal.
As he seeks building permits from the county, Chen said he worries about the next flood.
"What if the property floods again and no one wants to buy the house?" he asked. "Next thing you know I'm stuck with two mortgages and a house nobody wants to buy. It could drag our family back down again. When we moved in, the last major flood happened in 1972. We thought we were safe. We obviously weren't."