Seven tornadoes touched down in West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland on Wednesday, an outbreak that left a trail of structural and tree damage that stretched about 100 miles long and injured five people in Montgomery County, Maryland, the county said. National Weather Service in a preliminary report Thursday.
Five of the tornadoes came from a single storm, Storm Team4 Chief Meteorologist Doug Kammerer said.
A powerful storm system spawned destructive tornadoes, beginning in Inwood, West Virginia, where an EF-0 rated tornado touched down at 4:04 p.m. and traveled nearly a mile in four minutes, reaching an estimated maximum strength of 75 mph.
Approximately two and a half hours later, an EF-1 tornado touched down in Leesburg, Virginia, for one minute at 6:42 p.m., covering one mile and reaching strength of 95 mph.
That storm continued into Montgomery County, where at 7:14 p.m., another EF-1 tornado traveled 12 miles from Poolesville to Gaithersburg before ending at 7:42 p.m. That tornado reached a strength of 105 mph and a width of 125 yards.
A young Gaithersburg family faces mounting recovery costs after a tornado damaged their home Wednesday. News4’s Jackie Bensen reports.
The tornado snapped or completely downed dozens of trees, damaging homes and downing power lines. Widespread outages were reported.
Martin Perez was at his home in Gaithersburg with his wife, daughter and two friends when the tornado struck and strong winds toppled a tree onto their home, breaking it in two. They were all rescued and taken to the hospital.
“Seeing my daughter screaming, seeing your family members scared, you are scared too. I was very afraid,” Pérez said Thursday, after being released from the hospital.
“I’m devastated to see my family suffer, to see my property and my home damaged,” he said.
The tornado likely caused millions of dollars in damage, said Earl Stoddard, director of the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
The storm then continued east to Columbia, where it produced an EF-1 tornado with a force of 95 mph at 8:31 p.m. The tornado covered a mile in two minutes.
In southern Baltimore County, a fifth tornado struck at 8:45 p.m. and traveled approximately two and a half miles in seven minutes. Rated EF-1 with maximum winds of 105 mph.
A few minutes later, another EF-1 landed briefly northeast of Baltimore City in Middle River.
Finally, an EF-0 tornado northwest of Baltimore in Carroll County traveled approximately four and a half miles for about 15 minutes before the outbreak ended.
Earl Stoddard, director of the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (OEMHS), provides an update on the tornadoes that hit the county on Tuesday and advises residents to use caution when cleaning up.
‘Nature can happen anytime, anywhere’
As Gaithersburg residents clean up storm damage, some told News4 they will take storm warnings more seriously next time.
“No matter where you live, nature can appear anytime, anywhere,” said one man.
Down the street, a neighbor echoed the sentiment.
“This was a big wake-up call. It was terrifying,” she said. “The wind was howling. It sounded like we had a freight train going through the house. I felt like we were Dorothy in ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ “I felt like the house was going to take off.”
“Listen when they say tornado warning,” he added. “This was the real McCoy and he was very scary.”
After a tornado ripped through Gaithersburg, some residents said they will take more warnings more seriously. “No matter where you live, nature can appear anytime, anywhere,” one man told News4’s Joseph Olmo.
Be careful when cleaning, Stoddard told residents, especially when using stairs.
If you see any cables, call officials. Touching a live wire could be fatal.
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