Hey, history lovers. I'm Mike Rosenwald with Retropod. A show about the past, rediscovered.

In the summer of 2018, a town called Ellicott City in Maryland was devastated by its second

catastrophic flood in two years. It rained an astonishing eight inches in just two hours. The Patapsco River rose and kept rising,

sending waves of water rushing down Main Street, flipping cars, and instantly flooding shops and

restaurants, some all the way up to the second floor. There was one fatality.

A National Guard member died while trying to save others.

Authorities said it was a miracle there weren't more deaths.

How could a city suffer two catastrophic floods in such a short time?

Well, a lot of it has to do with development.

The forest and trees that had once held back water were taken over by houses and other properties.

But it's also about geography.

Ellicott City is unlucky in that department. While beautiful to walk around and shop,

the city is located at the bottom of a topographical funnel, where several streams converge into the

Patasco River. Here's the thing, though. That most recent flood earlier this summer, as bad as it was, it was not the worst

flood the city has ever experienced.

That flood happened on July 24, 1868.

When it happened, it wasn't even raining. Sure, all signs indicated that a storm was coming

from the west. Clouds completely blocked the light from the setting sun. Birds stopped singing.

Mill workers were forced to quit early, and flashes of lightning filled the western sky.

The residents of the town braced for the rain.

It never came.

But the waters of the Patasco River began to rise.

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