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-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001

Answers

This is somewhat in my neck of the woods, and while driving this afternoon, I heard that a tornado watch was in effect for the area. The radio reported that Culpepper, in Northern VA, had already been hit.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2001

2 Md. Students Killed by Tornadoes

By GRETCHEN PARKER Associated Press Writer

September 25, 2001, 5:35 AM EDT

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Emergency officials were trying to determine the extent of the damage from tornadoes that tore through suburban Washington, killing two University of Maryland students and injuring at least 50 people.

"There is immense destruction throughout this campus," fire spokesman Mark Brady said.

Several buildings were reported damaged by the tornadoes. Roughly 16,000 residents in the area lost power, Potomac Electric Power Co. officials said.

The two students died when their car overturned outside a dormitory, Brady said. Their names were not immediately released.

One of the two twisters touched down at 5:20 p.m. Monday in Prince George's County, and the National Weather Service said a second one touched down in the area about 10 minutes later.

Gov. Parris Glendening, who declared a state of emergency in Prince George's and Howard counties, visited the university Monday night and planned to tour the entire damaged area Tuesday.

The disaster declaration enabled state agencies to help victims and clean up the damage.

Ryan Wirt, a freshman, said he looked out his dorm window and saw the funnel cloud approaching, with lightning flashing inside.

"It looked as big as my whole building," Wirt said.

The university evacuated six dormitories, displacing 3,000 students. Those who could not return to their rooms spent the night at a nearby recreation center.

The university canceled classes Tuesday.

Elsewhere on campus, seven men were pulled from collapsed trailers belonging to the Maryland Fire Institute, Brady said. Four of the men were hospitalized.

Debris, overturned cars and trees were strewn all around campus and windows were blown out of the university's new performing arts center. A clear path of uprooted trees, downed power lines and debris stretched out from the university's northwestern edge.

The roof was blown off a Home Depot store and a church, Prince George's fire spokesman Chauncey Bowers said.

In Laurel, about five miles north of the university, the roof was blown off a building at Laurel High School. Three injuries were reported at the school. The extent of the injuries was not known, Maryland Emergency Management Agency spokesman Leonard Sipes said.

A town house community in Laurel was evacuated after 42 homes sustained severe damage, Sipes said. No injuries were reported.

The tornado was part of a storm system that stretched along the entire Interstate 95 corridor between Baltimore and Washington.

(PROFILE (CO:Home Depot; TS:HD; IG:RTS;) ) Copyright © 2001, The Associated Press

-- Anonymous, September 25, 2001

This morning I heard that the tornado was the strongest in this area in 75 years.

-- Anonymous, September 25, 2001

Peter, isn't this unusual for this late in September?

-- Anonymous, September 25, 2001

Maggie, I think so. I grew up in the Midwest, where there were tornado scares from time to time, and as I recall they weren't this late.

(One piece of advice I remember, and thank the Good Lord I never had to put it to the test, I'm not sure I would have had the courage, was that if you see a tornado ahead of you on the road, drive toward it. In some way that I don't recall, this strategy was based on roads going either straight North-South or straight East-West, which is how Midwestern roads are if you're out in the country.)

-- Anonymous, September 25, 2001

Peter ,I thought you were to get out of the car and get into a ditch? The closest I got to a tornado was years back when neighbors about 3 or 4 blocks away had their roofs blown off and our large front window needed to be replaced. I live in tornado alley and when I think of spring time, I also think of tornadoes and the bathtub.

When I bought a house here, an agent told me not to buy one with a basement because of water problems. I wish I had looked a little more and found a house with a good basement, instead of a crawl space.

-- Anonymous, September 25, 2001

The house I grew up in had a "storm cellar", with flappy doors close to the ground. I remember when I was fairly little, I was out walking with my mother, and she saw a funnel shaped cloud that frightened her. So she ran us back to the house and we piled into the storm cellar as fast as we could. False alarm tho, it wasn't a tornado, it just looked like one.

-- Anonymous, September 25, 2001