Multiple tornadoes swept across Maryland on Wednesday in what may be one of the most significant twister events to strike the area in years.
A supercell that developed in Loudoun County may have first produced a tornado north of Leesburg about 6:45 p.m. It went on to produce multiple tornadoes that tore through areas near Darnestown, Poolesville, Gaithersburg, Olney, Columbia and Baltimore.
It will take at least until Thursday afternoon for the National Weather Service to assess the damage, determine the number of tornadoes that touched down and assign ratings.
Video footage from Montgomery County showed a large, cone-shaped funnel near Darnestown and Poolesville — typical of those rated at least a 2 out of 5, which are much more common in the Plains and South than Mid-Atlantic. The last tornado rated at least a 2 to strike Maryland during June was in 1996.
“I’ve lived here 75 years and we’ve never had nothing like this come through Gaithersburg,” said Jacqueline Harding, who was heading to the grocery store on Wednesday evening and took shelter in a nearby house as the tornado approached. “Nothing that would tear trees down and stuff. Not this bad,” she said.
The Olde Towne neighborhood in Gaithersburg sustained the heaviest damage. In addition to the house on Dogwood Drive that left five people hospitalized, authorities said, two other houses were damaged by fallen trees, but the residents escaped without injury.
Photos from the area showed residents gathering on streets covered in tree branches and, in some cases, giant tree trunks.
“It was really quick, I think in those moments you don’t really understand what’s happening until it’s over,” said Mariela Cabanillas, a Gaithersburg resident who sheltered in a basement as the tornado swept through. “The wind was super loud and the rain was really hard.”
Some residents were temporarily without power as the storm downed power lines, with officials working through the night to assess the damage and clear debris from roads.
Storms could affect D.C. area again on Thursday, but the tornado risk is low.
The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center has placed the Washington region in a Level 1 risk area for severe storms Thursday, the lowest of five levels. Downpours, lightning and pockets of strong straight-line wind gusts are possible, but much less spin should be available for storms that form.
Katie Shepherd, Clarence Williams, Jessica Koscielniak, Daniel Wu and Jonathan Edwards contributed to this report.
