Severe Thunderstorms Move Across Maryland
LANSDOWNE, Md. (WJZ)—As severe storms moved through Maryland on Thursday night, the calls flooded into the WJZ newsroom—reports of downed trees, flooding and damaged buildings. In Baltimore County, neighbors worked to get a large tree off of a truck, and some viewers saw their roofs or porches torn away from their houses.
Mike Hellgren has a look at the damage.
The storm came through so fast and hit so hard and did so much damage from northwest Baltimore to Dundalk.
Lansdowne looks like it was hit with a massive hammer as a fast-moving storm rocked through parts of Baltimore County and other areas.
"It was just a lot of rain, real windy, got pretty loud. Next thing you know it was a whole bunch of commotion," said one resident.
It was the same scenario in Dundalk. There was lightning, torrential rain, flood and trees down.
Residents say they were blindsided by a system that hit fast and hard.
"It was nice and sunny for a couple minutes then it got real dark and then all hell broke loose," said one resident. "It started out with small hail, and then it went to maybe half a penny then to about a quarter."
A massive tree came down in Lansdowne. We're not exactly certain what brought it down, but lightning is suspected. What is clear, the storm system that rolled through Baltimore was isolated yet it packed a punch.
"It's just demolished," one resident said of her house. "I don't know. I went to bed and all of a sudden a big boom. I thought it was lightning but they say it might have been a tornado. It bust the window through. The roof came flying over. I couldn't even get out the door. My other son dug us all out."
Some 20-30 residents in Lansdowne and Dundalk are unable to live in their homes due to damage. The Red Cross is trying to help those displaced. Some people are staying with relatives.
The good news is that there have been no reports of injuries. The bad news about all of this is there's a lot of damage that has to be repaired.
