ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (WJZ) — Families in Howard County continue to clear damage and debris after a tornado touched down this week.
There is a lot of cleanup work left to do, with some of the larger trees and debris still scattered. One bright spot is that neighbors are working together.
The Howard County community continues to dig itself out of the wreckage. The tornado’s 80 mile-per-hour winds easily toppled trees from Poplar Springs to West Friendship as it made landfall Tuesday afternoon.
“We got hammered. I live on Hobbs Road. We probably have 30 trees down, ripped doors off my barn. It’s a mess,” said James Senn.
Cleaning a mess of this magnitude takes extra effort. That’s why neighbor’s are teaming up, making several trips to the county’s temporary debris sites.
“There’s a lot of tree damage. A lot of trees down,” said Larry Kunze.
One of those trees almost landed on Terrence Wheeler
“And I just stuck my foot out of the car, and all of a sudden, ‘Bam!’ A tree fell,” said Wheeler.
Even trees left standing after the tornado may need to be taken down. They were so weakened by the storm, it’s only a matter of time before they fall — and that can be a hazard.
“I didn’t know it was a tornado, thought it was straight line winds,” said Jarod Moore. “But clearly, it’s a tornado.”
The tornado moved through our region for 20 minutes, but it’s impact remains.
A big problem for residents were the power outages. Tens of thousands of people were without electricity. That number has dropped down to the hundreds.
Debris dumping sites and emergency water stations have been set up at the following locations:
Water:
Glenelg High School
14025 Burntwoods Road, Glenelg
Gary J. Arthur Community Center
2400 MD-97, Cooksville
Debris sites for residents:
Burleigh Manor Middle School
4200 Centennial Lane, Ellicott City
Howard County Living Farm Museum
12985 MD-144, West Friendship
June 23, 2016 6:59 PM By Amy Yensi
