I would not have thought that commuting would be a challenge. I start my commute from central Catonsville, MD to Clarksville. However, it was not a fairly long drive but it was still over an half-hour away.
From the middle of June to the end of July the commute was a breeze. I would cut through Ellicott City and go towards Columbia. The rain storm on Saturday July 30, 2016 caused major problems. That night it rained for hours; flash flooding became a result. Ellicott City was destroyed by the Patapsco River flooding. The end result was devastating. Many businesses destroyed as well as homes. A large sinkhole was also produced by the storm. Main Street and that part of Frederick Road was then shut down.
That Monday going to work was a nightmare. I had to leave much earlier in the morning. Usually, for work I would leave around 8:00 a.m to be at the office by 8:30 a.m. Instead, of leaving at 8:00 a.m, I left around 7:20 a.m. I only left that early because, I knew traffic was going to be a disaster. It was a good decision to leave much earlier; since I did not arrive to work until it was almost 8:45 a.m by the time I got there. In order for me to drive to work I had to take Route 40 all the way down to the exit I needed to get to Clarksville. The commute took me an extra 15 minutes after that first week.
Driving the long way to work was never easy and traffic was mostly horrible. For the last few weeks of my internship, this was the way I drove. Main Street and this portion of Frederick Road did not open until a week ago (around October 7, 2016).