A Look At How State Agencies Are Assisting Following EF-2 Tornado
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The damage from an EF-2 tornado that touched down on Kent Island early Monday morning has been widespread.
There are multiple Maryland state agencies that are assisting in Queen Anne's County after the severe storm hit the Bay City and Stevensville area.
Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford toured the hardest hit areas on Monday.
According to Governor Larry Hogan, these are the statewide agencies that had responded, and what they will be assisting with:
Maryland Emergency Management Agency
- Increased State Response Activation level to Enhanced to facilitate resource support. Coordinating all requests for state support and tasks conducted by state agencies.
- Coordinating with Queen Anne's County since early Monday morning to provide assistance to local emergency managers.
- Staffing regional liaison officers in Queen Anne's County Emergency Operations Center to facilitate State-to-local support.
- Monitoring approximately 6,600 power outages statewide as of 2:15 PM, down from a peak of 14,805 outages statewide.
- Establishing contact with federal Small Business Administration to determine any federal assistance that can be sought following damage assessments.
Maryland State Police
- Assumed lead as law enforcement coordination with assistance from Queen Anne's Sheriff, Maryland Transportation Authority Police, and Maryland Natural Resources Police
- Established Command Post at Mowbray Park, 629 Romancoke Road, Stevensville, Maryland
- Deployed 25 sworn and civilian personnel to assist with manning traffic posts, patrolling residential and business areas, conducting welfare checks and escorting utility vehicles into the impacted areas.
- Provided aerial surveillance to assist in damage assessment.
- Resources utilized include: Special Operations Command, Aviation, Motor Unit, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division and barrack personnel from the Eastern Troop.
Maryland Department of Transportation
- More than 70 State Highway Administration (SHA) and Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) crews and 35 SHA trucks (front-end loaders, dump trucks, heavy equipment) responded to US 50, MD 8, MD 18 and other areas to provide assistance.
- SHA provided response from three SHA maintenance shops in Centreville, Easton and Chestertown, as well as CHART personnel from the Statewide Operations Center.
- MDTA Police provided traffic direction and MDTA maintenance crews provided an additional portable message sign on MD 8.
- MDOT will continue to support cleanup efforts into the night.
Maryland Department of Human Services
- Queen Anne's County Department of Social Services staff on hand to manage Friends and Family Reunification Centers at Centreville Middle School (231 Ruthsburg Road, Centreville, MD 21617) and Kent Island Volunteer Fire Department (1610 Main Street, Chester, MD 21619).
- Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles are on location and are providing mobile feeding and water distribution to the affected communities.
- Impacted residents who need transportation to one of the Emergency Shelters may call 410-758-2357 to receive transportation.
Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development
- Coordinating with the Department of Human Services to assess need of rental assistance for displaced residents.
- Will activate disaster recovery loan and grant programs as needed to assist small businesses, homeowners and renters.
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