After pair of 1-in-1000 year floods, a town seeks safeguards

The deadly flash flood that devastated a Maryland town's historic center in July 2016 was dubbed a 1-in-1000 year event. Yet less than two years later, another treacherous flood again ravaged the town, gutting shops and killing a visitor.

Residents gather by a bridge to look at cars left crumpled in one of the tributaries of the Patapsco River that burst its banks as it channeled through historic Main Street in Ellicott City, Md., Monday, May 28, 2018. Sunday's destructive flooding left the former mill town heartbroken as it had bounded back from another destructive storm less than two years ago. (AP Photo/David McFadden)

Exasperated locals, just starting the strenuous task of picking up the pieces from Sunday's disaster, are calling for authorities to energetically focus on finding some kind of stormwater solution for Ellicott City's downtown district, situated in a ravine some 13 miles (20 kilometers) west of Baltimore.

"Who would have thought this was going to happen in two years? But it happened again. And maybe we're never going to see Old Ellicott City again," said resident Sahil Saini, standing outside a community center doubling as a shelter.

A car that was swept into the riverbank rests just off Main Street in flood-ravaged Ellicott City, Md., Monday, May 28, 2018. Sunday's destructive flooding left the former mill town heartbroken as it had bounded back from another destructive storm less than two years ago. (AP Photo/David McFadden)

Flooding is hardly new for historic Ellicott City, a onetime home to mill workers that transformed into a tourist hub known for its restaurants, antique shops and nightlife. There was a devastating flood in 1868 that killed at least 43 people. Locals who can remember still talk about the one that deluged the town in 1972.

But the recent destructive floods are different, many locals say. They note that the old town's vulnerabilities have increased as more housing developments have been built in hills above, removing critical protections against flooding and increasing the amount of impervious surfaces.

Water moves past a car swept into the riverbank and smashed by a fallen tree is shown just off Main Street in flood-ravaged Ellicott City, Md., Monday, May 28, 2018. Sunday's destructive flooding left the former mill town heartbroken as it had bounded back from another destructive storm less than two years ago. (AP Photo/David McFadden)

"The unbridled development is a scandal," said Steve McKenna, who lives within walking distance of the freshly ravaged Main Street. "It's one thing when water gradually rises when it rains. It's another thing when a million gallons of runoff comes racing down the hill."

During the most torrential rains, the Tiber and Hudson tributaries of the Patapsco River roar together, bursting over culverts twisting through the heart of downtown, fueled by stormwater runoff. Even some people living in the townhouse complexes at the top of the hill know there's something wrong.

This image made from video provided by DroneBase shows vehicles swept by floodwater near the intersection of Ellicott Mills Drive and Main Street in Ellicott City, Md., Monday, May 28, 2018. Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said Monday morning that his priorities are finding a missing man and assessing the condition of buildings that house shops, restaurants and families. (DroneBase via AP)

"These hills just feed the downtown with water. By design, it's a mess. It seems like there's nowhere else for the water to go," said Guan Yang, an electrical engineer who moved to a relatively new townhouse development above Ellicott City's downtown two years ago.

After 2016's flash flood, Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said he tapped the county's planning department to draft a master plan to prevent future disasters. This week, officials told reporters that only 30 percent of a flood mitigation project started after the 2016 disaster had been finished.

This image made from video provided by DroneBase shows damage by floodwaters near the intersection of Ellicott Mills Drive and Main Street in Ellicott City, Md., Monday, May 28, 2018. Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman said Monday morning that his priorities are finding a missing man and assessing the condition of buildings that house shops, restaurants and families. (DroneBase via AP)

Kittleman told The Associated Press that officials had been working on two stormwater retention ponds and there were plans to put in piping to divert water flow.

"Unfortunately, it takes time to have those larger projects get done. And so we were in the process of working on those, but no one could even think that something like this could happen in such a short time," he said.

Some locals are understanding, saying there's only so much that actually could be done 22 months between extreme weather events.

"Of course, we would all like to have seen some infrastructure in place. However, we also understand there's a process and he (Kittleman) was doing the best he can," resident Randolph Hoenes told reporters during an organized media tour of Main Street.

This undated photo provided by Howard County Police Department shows Eddison Alexander Hermond, who was reported missing Sunday, May 27, 2018, following torrential rains and flash flooding in Ellicott City, Md. Searchers scouring the Patapsco River near the historic town said Tuesday, May 29, that they have found Hermond's body. (Howard County Police Department via AP)

Judah Cohen, a climatologist who is seasonal forecasting chief at Atmospheric Environmental Research in Lexington, Massachusetts, said what happened Sunday in Ellicott City appears consistent with climate change expectations. "Extreme heavy precipitation events are increasing in the Northeast U.S.," he said by phone.

Cohen indicated that rainfall rates explained as a 1-in-100 year event or a 1-in-1000 year event using historical data can be quite misleading as the impacts of climate change skew the distribution.

"The whole distribution has shifted. So what used to be a 100-year event becomes, say, a 10-year event. They will come more frequently so you're experiencing these extreme events multiple times in one lifetime," Cohen said.

A federal climate extremes index shows that extreme weather events — including flood-triggering downpours and punishing droughts — have indeed increased in the U.S.

The National Weather Service said some 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rain fell in Ellicott City by Sunday night, when torrents raged through the town. In the July 2016 flood, over 6 inches (15 centimeters) fell, much of it in 90 minutes or less.

With floodwaters receded, Main Street business owners like Nicholas Johnson are now weighing whether it makes sense investing in rebuilding. If they stay to fight for another comeback, they say they'll be watching authorities closely to ensure floodwater mitigation is the No. 1 priority.

"We would need some measure of assurance that this wasn't going to happen again," Johnson said by a Main Street building where the entire first-floor storefront was ripped out. "One of the reasons we came back (after 2016's flooding) was because it was dubbed a 1,000-year flood. Well, here we are 22 months later and there's another 1,000-year flood that's more devastating."

A high school athletic director in Maryland has been accused of using artificial intelligence to impersonate a principal on an audio recording that included racist and antisemitic comments, authorities said Thursday.

Authorities said the case appears to be among the first of its kind in the country and called for new laws to guard against the technology. Experts also warned that artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly powerful, while the ability to detect it may lag behind without more resources.

Dazhon Darien faked the voice of Pikesville High School's principal in response to conversations the men had about Darien's poor work performance and whether his contract would be renewed, Baltimore County police said.

Concerns included allegations that Darien paid his roommate $1,900 in school funds under the false pretense of coaching the girls soccer team, police said.

Darien forged an audio clip in which it sounded as if the principal was frustrated with Black students and their test-taking abilities, police wrote in charging documents. They said the recording also purported to capture the principal disparaging Jewish individuals and two teachers.

The audio clip quickly spread on social media and had “profound repercussions,” the court documents stated, with the principal being placed on leave. The recording put the principal and his family at “significant risk,” while police officers provided security at his house, according to authorities.

The recording also triggered a wave of hate-filled messages on social media and an inundation of phone calls to the school, police said. Activities were disrupted for a time, and some staff felt unsafe.

“Teachers have expressed fears that recording devices could have been planted in various places in the school,” the charging documents stated.

Darien, 31, faces charges that include theft, disrupting school activities, stalking and retaliating against a witness, according to court documents.

Scott Shellenberger, the Baltimore County state's attorney, said the case appears to be one of the first of its kind nationwide involving artificial intelligence that his office was able to find. He said Maryland's Legislature may need to update state laws to catch up with the nefarious possibilities of the new technology.

For example, the charge of disrupting school activities “only carries a 6-month sentence,” Shellenberger said.

“But we also need to take a broader look at how this technology can be used and abused to harm other people,” the prosecutor said.

Baltimore County detectives had asked experts to analyze the recording made by Darien, according to the charges against him.

A professor from the University of Colorado-Denver told police that it “contained traces of AI-generated content with human editing after the fact, which added background noises for realism,” court records stated.

A second opinion from a professor at the University of California-Berkley told police that “multiple recordings were spliced together,” according to the records.

A Baltimore County detective found that Darien had used Large Language Models, such as OpenAI and Bingchat, which can "tell users what steps to take to create synthetic media," court documents stated.

Online court records for Darien show that he posted $5,000 bond on Thursday. The records did not list an attorney who might be able to speak on his behalf.

Darien was arrested Wednesday evening before he was to board a plane at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said. Darien was stopped because of how he had packaged his firearm for the flight, leading officers to learn he had a warrant for his arrest, according to McCullough.

McCullough said authorities had entered the warrant for Darien's arrest into the system on Wednesday night with plans to serve it Thursday morning. The chief said he didn't know why Darien was catching a flight to Houston and did not suggest that he was trying to escape.

The Baltimore County school system is recommending Darien's termination, superintendent Myriam Rogers said Thursday.

Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly powerful and yet “very easy to use,” said Siwei Lyu, director of a media forensics lab at the University at Buffalo.

“You can basically upload any subject’s voice up to this platform,” Lyu told The Associated Press on Thursday. “And then you can give it text and you can start creating voices of that person.”

A recording of someone talking for a minute or two can be gleaned from social media and used to recreate someone’s voice, Lyu said, noting that it’s not always perfect.

Lyu’s research focuses on identifying AI-generated voices and images. He said the models are becoming more powerful, while detection methods are trying to catch up.

“It’s kind of like a perpetual cat-and-mouse game,” Lyu said. “But if I project the speed of development based on today’s situation, detection will lag behind because we have less resources and are not getting as much attention as the generative side.”

This undated photo shows the The Pikesville High School sign on the school property. Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough and other local officials speak at a news conference in Towson, Maryland, on Thursday, April 25, 2024. The officials discussed the arrest of a high school athletic director on charges that he used artificial intelligence to impersonate a principal on an audio recording that included racist and antisemitic comments. (Lloyd Fox/The Baltimore Sun via AP)

Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough and other local officials speak at a news conference in Towson, Maryland, on Thursday April 25, 2024. The officials discussed the arrest of a high school athletic director on charges that he used artificial intelligence to impersonate a principal on an audio recording that included racist and antisemitic comments. (Kim Hairston/The Baltimore Sun via AP)