Update (Friday, June 14, 2024, 3 p.m. ET): The National Weather Service said in an update that 13 tornadoes tore through Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia on June 5. Go here for updated info.
Seven tornadoes tore through West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland Wednesday — an outbreak that left a path of tree and structural damage extending about 100 miles long and injuring five people in Montgomery County, Maryland — the National Weather Service said 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 the destructive tornadoes, beginning in Inwood, West Virginia, where an EF-0 rated twister hit at 4:04 p.m. and traveled almost a mile over four minutes, reaching an estimated peak strength of 75 mph.
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About two-and-a-half hours later, an EF-1 tornado hit in Leesburg, Virginia, for a minute at 6:42 p.m., covering a mile and reaching a strength of 95 mph.
That storm continue to 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 width of 125 yards.
Dozens of trees were snapped or toppled completely by the twister, damaging homes and downing powerlines. Widespread outages were reported.
Martin Perez was at home in Gaithersburg with his wife, daughter and two friends when the tornado struck and high winds toppled a tree onto his home, splitting it in two. They all were rescued and were taken to the hospital.
“To see my daughter screaming, to see your family members scared, you’re scared too. I was very afraid,” Perez said Thursday, after he was released from the hospital.
“I’m devastated to see my family suffering, to see my property and my house damaged,” he said.
The tornado likely caused millions of dollars worth of damage, said Earl Stoddard, director of the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management & Homeland Security.
The storm then continued east to Columbia, where it produced a 95 mph strength, EF-1 tornado at 8:31 p.m. The twister covered a mile over two minutes.
In southern Baltimore County, a fifth tornado struck at 8:45 p.m. and traveled about two-and-a-half miles over seven minutes. It rated EF-1 with peak winds of 105 mph.
A few minutes later, another EF-1 hit briefly to the northeast of Baltimore city in Middle River.
Finally, an EF-0 twister northwest of Baltimore in Carroll County traveled about four-and-a-half miles for about 15 minutes before the outbreak ended.
‘Nature could happen anytime, anywhere’
As residents of Gaithersburg clean up storm damage, some told News4 they will take storm warnings more seriously next time.
“No matter where you live, nature could happen anytime, anywhere,” one man said.
Down the street, a neighbor echoed the sentiment.
“This was a big wake-up call. It was scary,” she said. “The wind was howling. It sounded like we had a freight train coming 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 to when they say tornado warning,” she added. “This was the real McCoy and it was very frightening.”
Be cautious when cleaning up, Stoddard told residents, especially while using ladders.
If you see any wires, call officials. Touching a live wire could be fatal.
