WASHINGTON 鈥斅營n the blazing heat they walked up and down Old Ellicott City鈥檚 flood zone 鈥� a group聽of young people sometimes trudging up the hills, sometimes dashing door to door to help residents hit by the flash floods that rushed though the city July 30.
The teenagers, high school and college students volunteering with Centennial Relief, were pushing a wheelbarrow filled with fresh fruits and vegetables and bag lunches, which are all free to the families affected by the flash flooding.
Many homeowners had recently returned to see basements and first floors filled with soaked furniture and carpets. Some homes suffered serious structural damage as well.
Nineteen-year-old聽Alex Booth, a college student at St. Mary鈥檚 College of Maryland, spent Tuesday helping a family clean up.
鈥淪omeone鈥檚 basement was flooded with sewage so we put on the full bodysuits and dug it out with masks and stuff.鈥�
He called it an 鈥渋ntense鈥� experience.聽Another family requested help sorting through mud-caked appliances and furniture.
Centennial High School student Matt Rutkowski,17, said that聽some of the families were just overwhelmed.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of people out here and they need a lot of stuff after what happened, and we鈥檙e just trying to fulfill that need with what we have,鈥� he said.
Despite the heat and walking up聽hills, Rutkowski was beaming.
鈥淚t just makes me so happy to be out here and to help people. It鈥檚 a really good feeling,” he said.
To learn more about the recovery efforts and how to participate, go to the .
