First of all, Ellicott City sits at the confluence of the Tiber and Patapsco Rivers. This in itself moves a lot of water. Another issue is that Ellicott City sits in a shallow valley, with many of the expanding buildings and homes having to be build literally over the Tiber river. This makes water from almost all directions converge in the valley to the Tiber River before being emptied in the Patapsco. And this isn't even the biggest issue.
The Tiber River is tiny compared to the Patapsco River. The Patapsco can carry larger amounts of water than the Tiber River can, adding to the quickness of the flooding downtown. The valley and large water confluence causes the natural watershed to be turned into a river itself. Water rushed from all directions until the larger Patapsco River can't handle the volume. It then backs up like how a dam backs up water. This causes water levels to rise, and rise, and rise.Flooding can cause billions in damaged and can be cause by numerous things such as hurricanes or unusual rainy periods and have unfortunately caused deaths in Ellicott City.
Works Cited
**http://www.ellicottcity.net/tourism/history/floods/**
http://imgarcade.com/1/river-flooding-diagram/
http://www.wheatleyriver.ca/welcome/what-is-a-watershed/
TO LOG A FIND ON THIS CACHE YOU MUST GIVE ME THE CORECT ANSWERS BEFORE YOU LOG A FIND. YOU CAN CONTACT ME THROUGH MY EMAIL OR THE GEOCACHING MESSAGE CENTER. ANY INCORRECT ANSWERS WILL RESULT IN A DELETED LOG
1. Ellicott City - The Great Floods on the first line of your email.
2. There was a major flood in Ellicott City in summer of 2016. Look for any damages from this recent flood and describe these dangers to buildings, roads, and other objects you can see from GZ. ALSO describe where the water was coming from and where it was heading. You can do this by lookin at the grade of nearby Old US 40.
3. What flood precautionary techniques, if any, do you see around GZ?
4. What flood precautionary techniques could you add in addition to the ones already implemented?
* NOTE - You will likely not receive an email back from me, unless I need clarification on your answers. Please, don't wait for me to tell you you have it correct or not. I do review your emails within 12 hours of getting them in my inbox and with other of my earthcaches, it has become too hard to do. As soon as you send the email, you can log this earthcache.
