As Elizabeth Loebl cleared piles of dirt Friday from a small stone building in Ellicott City, the 36-year-old tried to come to grips with the enormity of the task ahead.

“This is just one building. Imagine what's down there,” Loebl said, referring to areas of the historic district hit hardest by last weekend's deadly flood.

“We're going to be here for a long time,” she said.

Loebl, who lives minutes away from the area slammed by the flood, was among volunteers who showed up Friday, the first day Howard County officials opened parts of the devastated area to those offering to aid the recovery effort.

Officials said over the past week more than 2,500 people had called to volunteer since the flood, which claimed two lives, displaced dozens of residents and swept small businesses into ruin.

“We have seen an overwhelming response from the community. It's remarkable,” said Howard County Executive Allan H. Kittleman.

“People are coming together in ways we haven't seen before.”

Yet even as volunteers began shoveling dirt and clearing branches, two buildings remained under the threat of collapse and the county issued a list of more than a dozen Main Street properties where access was limited or temporarily prohibited.

Officials said some 30 vehicles were still in the Patapsco River — even after more than 200 had been towed from the area.

Ryan Miller, director of the county Office of Emergency Management, told County Council members at an emergency meeting Friday morning that some vehicles were still buried under debris. He also offered a sobering caution, saying that while there were no reports of missing persons, the piles of debris are so large “we can't rule out” that some people might still be missing.

The council met to formally extend a county state of emergency that Kittleman imposed last weekend in the immediate aftermath of the flooding. His declaration was to expire today, and council action was needed to extend it.

It now will last through Sept. 7. Council members also asked for a progress report by Aug. 27.

The declaration allows the administration to control traffic, vehicles and public transportation, as well as limit access to public roads and buildings. Officials can also impose a curfew, though none has been suggested.

All week, people showed up at Main Street with shovels and other tools to lend a hand, but were turned away by police. As emergency crews and utility workers struggled to secure crumbling infrastructure and downed power lines, officials said it was too dangerous to let people onto the street to help out.

Then officials announced parts of the area were secure enough that volunteers could begin pitching in.

Among the first in line Friday was Eric Jayne, a teacher at Pointers Run Elementary in Clarksville.

“We're waiting. As soon as that police tape comes down, there is a community here ready to put this town back together,” Jayne said. “This is going to take a true community effort.”

Minutes later he was shoveling mud from one of the old town's historic buildings.

Joyce Tami drove from her home in Alexandria, Va., to help out. She said putting her hands in the dirt was better than simply writing a check.

“All I can hope is that I never need people to help me,” Tami said. “We're so lucky to be helping.”

Ron Vogelsang, a 47-year-old park specialist for the county, said extra hands are needed to clear the area.

Loaders designed to haul away dirt and debris are too big to navigate some areas of the historic district.

The damage to the town, Vogelsang said, “is far worse than I could have ever imagined.”

The county set up a volunteer center at the Wal-Mart on North Ridge Road to register volunteers and then ferry them to a parking lot near Main Street in an area deemed safe.

Officials said staff would be on hand daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. to sign up those who want to help.

Jason Dowling, 36, of Ellicott City worked Friday to help clean the Heritage Orientation Center, a building that once served as one of Ellicott City's first courthouses.

Dowling said he spent much of his childhood on Main Street and used to work at Johnny's Bistro on Main, a restaurant that's among the dozens with an uncertain future. He said he often attended the “ghost tours” that gave tourists a look at the haunted history of the old town.

Now, Dowling said, the town will be haunted by the history-making flood.

“It won't be an old historic town anymore,” he said. “When they rebuild it, people are going to think about that flood. They're going to think, ‘When is this going to happen again?' It's scary.”

fwaseem@baltsun.com