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'Scary, crazy' | Ellicott City first responder describes flood, dozens of water rescues

Howard County's Fire and Rescue teams have been working non-stop since Sunday's flood.

BETHESDA, MD -- A Montgomery County First Responder who took part in more than two dozen water rescues last Sunday in Ellicott City described the rushing waters as "scary" and "crazy."

MCFRS Lt. Peter Gillis is a member of the Montgomery County Fire and EMS Swift Water Rescue team. His group is housed in Bethesda, Md.

"If I'm running through something that's not normal, anybody that says they're not scared is lying,” said Lt. Gillis.

He told WUSA9 that feeling is what actually kept them alert and on their toes.

RELATED: Development not the source of flooding, Howard County documents say

News cameras caught the Montgomery County team just after they rescued five people from a Main Street home.

“We don't see stuff like this too often either," said Lt. Gills days after the flooding in Ellicott City.

On Sunday, he said the team was first called to a historic building that eventually collapsed. The person they were called to rescue made it out.

After that, they got another call for a rescue further down Main Street. Five people were trapped on the second floor of a home.

"The water's actually rising. So we felt like if we didn't get those people then there was going to be an increased risk of the waters rising, and we had just had that house that had collapsed,” said Gillis.

He described all kinds of debris in the water.

Checking for a roadway underneath with wooden poles, the team walked in a chain or line, carefully making their way to the home. On the way, Gillis smashed a car window to make sure no one was inside.

They kept moving, breaking through two walls to get to the people stranded.

This was one of around 30 rescues performed in just a few hours. Gillis’ team said at least five different counties aided Howard County.

When asked what's the one thing he'll never forget, Gills said, "I remember just seeing a car basically just being flipped – flipping over itself because of the push because of the water and all that converging into one point."

Gillis said the other battle of the night was actually getting to the people that needed to be rescued.

Washed out roads meant they had to keep turning around.

RELATED: Impact: How you can help Ellicott City flood victims

While they don’t see this often, the Montgomery County Lieutenant said fast-moving water rescues is what they train for.

He made sure to stress if there's a flood warning, get to higher ground.

Howard County's Fire and Rescue teams have been working non-stop since Sunday’s flood.

First it was flood and water rescues. Since then, they've been working to stabilize buildings, protect workers, homeowners and store owners trying to get to their buildings. They've also been recovering cars.

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