Advertisement Recovery continues in Ellicott City; deadline to pickup cars is Sunday Howard County extends state of emergency after flood Share Shares Copy Link Copy

More residents and business owners were allowed back to their properties Saturday, a week after historic floods ravaged Ellicott City.Residents and business owners met at St. Peters Church on Rogers Avenue before they were escorted to their properties for a brief amount of time to collect belongings and survey the damage.Recovery efforts are still very much underway, but Saturday was about emotional support as flood victims gathered at night. Amicci Restaurant from Baltimore's Little Italy donated food for the gathering at an Ellicott City church. Some of the flooding victims haven't seen each other at all this week. They were able to share hugs and check in on each other.On Friday, county officials said crews escorted 26 residents and 66 merchants to their properties on Main Street. On Thursday, crews escorted 220 people to 100 properties.Officials temporarily halted access to properties on Thursday after inspectors were concerned that two buildings along Main Street were in danger of collapsing and needed to be demolished.The access was suspended Friday around 4:45 p.m. because of a safety issue caused by a leaning utility pole, county officials said.It is unclear when they will be able to return permanently."There are some homes with structural problems," Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said. "We are going through all those. Our inspections folks have looked at that. No one is going be able to go into a home until we 're sure it's safe for them."The Howard County Council voted unanimously Friday to extend the state of emergency. The 5-0 vote comes six days after the flooding, during which scores of buildings and vehicles were damaged or destroyed and two people were killed. County officials said the state of emergency was extended to Sept. 7, but it could end earlier depending on the recovery efforts.JOB FAIR: As for the people who worked at the businesses affected, a job fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday at the Ellicott City 50+ Center at 9401 Frederick Road. Officials said businesses including retail, food service and other areas will have temporary and permanent employment opportunities for those affected.DISASTER ASSISTANCE CENTER: The county has also extended the hours this weekend for the Disaster Assistance Center at the Ellicott City 50+ Center. The center will be open Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will reopen Monday through Friday. Monday-Wednesday, the center will open at 2 p.m. and close at 7 p.m. Thursday-Friday, the center will open at 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.Anyone who needs more information can call 410-313-2900.TOWED CARS: County officials are also reminding residents that anyone who thinks their vehicle was towed to Centennial High School after the flooding has until 8 p.m. Sunday to pick them up with no charge to them.So far, as many as 200 cars were picked up from the Centennial High School parking lot, and 40 remained on the lot as of Friday evening.Vehicle owners should bring identification to claim their vehicles. If an owner does not have ID due to the flooding, police will attempt to verify ownership through a series of questions and other methods. Cars also may be released to insurance adjusters with appropriate documentation.For cars that are not drivable, owners should contact their insurance companies to arrange for removal.Property may be recovered from inside the vehicles, if necessary.Any cars that are unclaimed by Sunday at 8 p.m. will be towed to a contracted storage facility at the owner’s expense.UTILITIES: Among the victims' frustration was addressing how to deal with a myriad of services, ranging from mail pick-up to utilities.Comcast is apologizing after reports that at least one business affected by last week’s flood in Ellicott City was being charged $600 for an early termination fee after seeking to cancel its services.The apology came after the owners of Park Ridge Trading Co. turned to social media to express their frustration over the initial early termination fee.“Comcast is unbelievable,” Park Ridge Trading Co. posted on Facebook. “They are charging the destroyed businesses an ‘early termination’ fee (about $600), and are insisting on charging for this past week although no services are being provided. They also are insisting on our signing an agreement to pay the fee before they will even consider turning off the nonexistent service. There should be a special place in hell for business owners who try to capitalize on the misery of others."Comcast spokeswoman Eliza Findley said the company is following up with affected customers and will waive any early termination fees.“We are so sorry that we contributed to the stress of our customer during an already difficult time,” Findley said in a statement. “Given the circumstances, we will be waiving the early termination fee and will also ensure that billing is stopped for as long as they don't have service. We've reached out to the customer to apologize and are working to make this right.”Howard County officials said they were aware of such concerns from residents regarding Comcast and other service providers. Officials added that are reaching out to companies to work with residents to resolve such issues.WBAL-TV 11 News reporters Jennifer Franciotti and Deborah Weiner, and WBALTV.com editors Greg Ng and Saliqa Khan contributed to this story.Get the WBAL-TV News App