A man who went missing when flash flooding hit a central Maryland city was trying to help a woman rescue her cat amidst the rising waters.

Howard county police chief Gary Gardner said witnesses saw the man go under the water on Sunday evening, and he did not surface. Police earlier identified him as 39-year-old Eddison Hermond of Severn.

Further south, the center of Subtropical Storm Alberto reached the northern US Gulf coast on Monday evening.

Gardner said Hermond, a national guard member and air force veteran, had been with a group at the La Palapa Grill & Cantina. He said Hermond was trying to help by holding a door open as water rushed in the building when a woman approached and said she was trying to find her pet.

Simon Cortes, who owns the restaurant, said Hermond is “a super nice guy” who was always out in the community showing support when it worked to rebuild from devastating flooding less than two years ago.

Play Video 0:34 Flash floods in Maryland leaves main street underwater – video

Lt Col Charles Kohler, a spokesman for the guard, said Hermond is a sergeant assigned to the training department at the Camp Frettard Military Reservation in Reisterstown. Lt Col Kohler said Hermond spent more than 10 years on active duty in the air force, starting in 1996. He joined the national guard in 2009. Kohler said the thoughts and prayers of his fellow guard members were with Hermond and his family.

Howard County executive Allan Kittleman said earlier Hermond had not been seen since about 5.20pm on Sunday, when brown water was raging down Main Street. Emergency workers were “making every effort”, he said.



Kittleman said the other priority for authorities was to assess the condition of buildings which contain shops, restaurants and homes. The area remained blocked off, even to residents and business owners. Officials said they were heartbroken to see the community so severely damaged by flooding again, less than two years after a flood killed two people and caused millions in damages.

Flash floods sent cars floating down Main Street while first responders rescued dozens of people trapped in buildings swamped by water. As the flood waters receded late on Sunday, officials began the grim task of assessing the destruction. Rescue crews were going through the muddied, damaged downtown, conducting safety checks. Kittleman said the damage appeare to be worse than in July 2016.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Rescue personnel examine damage on Main Street after a flash flood rushed through the historic town of Ellicott City, Maryland. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Business owners said on Monday they were determined to rebuild and pull together. Cortes, owner of La Palapa Grill & Cantina, said it was “a horrible time”, and his business had about 1ft of water inside. But he said the town had been through it before. He felt “like it’s our duty to make sure that we rebuild and open back up”, he said.

Randy Marriner, who owns the Manor Hill Tavern, said he hoped to be one of the first businesses to reopen and “be a bright light to our brothers and sisters in Ellicott City”. However, Hermond was a former employee of his and Marriner said he was heartsick.

Subtropical Storm Alberto made landfall further south, on the Gulf coast, pelting white sand beaches with blustery winds and stinging rain that kept the usual Memorial Day crowds away.

Forecasters warned heavy rain, flash flooding and dangerous surf posed the biggest threats as Alberto’s ragged core made landfall near Laguna Beach in the Florida Panhandle. A few brief tornadoes also were possible in much of Florida and parts of Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said at 5 pm ET that Alberto was centered about 15 miles west-north-west of Panama City, Florida. With maximum sustained winds of 45mph, Alberto was moving north at 9mph.

Rough conditions were whipping up big waves off the eastern and northern Gulf coast, and authorities warned swimmers to stay out of the surf because of life-threatening swells and rip currents.