Body found in Patapsco River near flooded Ellicott City

Authorities said a man’s body has been found by searchers in Maryland’s Patapsco River near the Howard and Baltimore county line.

Howard County Police said they are waiting on an identification.

The discovery comes after Ellicott City, Maryland, was hit over the weekend by widespread flooding. Eddison “Eddie” Hermond, a 39-year-old National Guard sergeant from Severn, Maryland, went missing after he tried to rescue a woman who was trapped by rapidly rising water in the town.

Hermond had been at a restaurant Sunday helping to celebrate the owner’s birthday.

The woman who was trapped, Kate Bowman, said Hermond stepped over a ledge and was “immediately washed away.”

“It was so fast,” Bowman recalled. “He just got washed away real quick.”

The historic area was hit with similar heavy flooding in the summer of 2016. That storm left two people dead and caused more than $20 million in damage.

The flooding has frustrated many in the area because it was the third major flood for the town since 2011. Maryland’s governor has declared a state of emergency.