Powerful Storms Destroy Dock In Cecil Co.
CECIL COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) -- Trees toppled onto homes and power lines were torn down. Mother Nature pounded parts of Maryland with heavy rain and winds, leaving hundreds in the dark.
Rick Ritter has the aftermath.
Cecil County was one of the harder hit areas. The storm rolled in early Wednesday morning. Heavy winds ripped up a dock, board by board, crushing boats while people were sleeping inside of them. Metal siding was torn apart and thrown hundreds of yards out into the river. People aren't estimating thousands of dollars in damage; instead---millions.
The damage is tough to take in. For some, it's still surreal.
"You can't really believe how much was damaged," said Frank Porter; a tree toppled onto his home.
Tuesday night's storm crippled parts of Cecil County. Sky Eye Chopper 13 surveyed the aftermath: heavy winds hammered local yacht clubs, boats tossed around like toys, metal siding peeled off like a Band-Aid, thrown hundreds of yards into the river.
"I was just devastated," said Scott Millege, who works at McDaniel Yacht Basin. "Disbelief. The sheds were gone; boats crushed."
Bruce Jamison grew up at the McDaniel Yacht Basin; he was just one of many sleeping on their vessel when Mother Nature hit hard.
"I could feel the air changing and almost like an odd noise in the air, like a `woof woof woof,'" he said. "I actually felt like I was suspended in the air."
He calls it a terrifying ordeal.
"All of a sudden, the boat was moving all over the place and banging off the pilings. I almost fell down inside the boat," he said.
The damage extends well beyond the water. Hundreds were left without power.
Frank Porter says it started with lightning, then the wind.
"The wind just picked up, sounded like a freight train," he said. "The tree, all of a sudden, I just heard it come down and hit the house," he said.
Crews throughout the county are left picking up limbs and piecing neighborhoods back together. Somehow, no one was injured but many know it could've easily been tragic.
"I've seen flooding but nothing of this magnitude," said Millege.
People say damage from past hurricanes and even Superstorm Sandy don't compare to this. They've never seen anything like this before. Many are wondering if it was a tornado that hit; the National Weather Service confirmed they're surveying the damage.
Officials say at the height of the storm, close to 2,000 people were left without power in Cecil County. Crews are still working to restore power to all homes.