Roaring flash floods that struck a Maryland city have toppled buildings, swept away dozens of cars and turned streets into raging rivers that reached as high as six feet.

Dramatic footage and photos showed the sudden and violent floodwaters surging through Ellicott City, about 13 miles outside of Baltimore, on Sunday as torrential rain soaked much of the state.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency for the city late in the afternoon and Maryland Governor Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency soon after.

‘This is a catastrophic and life-threatening extremely dangerous situation,’ the weather alert warned.