Tornado Strikes Univ. of Maryland

[Dave Colvin <dcolvin@uwo.ca>]

A tornado struck the University of Maryland Monday night at approximately 
5:30 pm causing extensive damage -- 2 people were killed, 5 had to be 
rescued (1 remains in critical condition), 25 students received minor 
injuries, 3,000 students were evacuated from six dormatories and classes 
were cancelled Tuesday. Interestingly, the University and surrounding 
community is serviced by a fire station on Campus staffed by paid and 
volunteer members (including 19 students) http://www.cpvfd.org/.   A 
volunteer firefighter responding to the emergency died of a heart attack.

UMD is located just outside Washington DC.  Apparently the area was under a 
tornado watch at the time.  The area is not considered a high risk area for 
tornados....

Here are some related web sites:

University of Maryland web site 
http://www.inform.umd.edu/CampusInfo/Departments/InstAdv/nowandthen/news/tornado_faq.html
UMD Fire Rescue Institute 
http://www.mfri.org/Whats_New/Whats_New_Main1.html#tornado
Washington Post video clip 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/metro/092401-50v.htm
Washington Post web 
site  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19660-2001Sep24.html
Star/Tribune story http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/711925.html
CNN News story http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/24/washington.storms/
CBS News story http://www.cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1597,312382-412,00.shtml

Dave.



Date:    Tue, 25 Sep 2001 13:09:41 +0000
From:    Mark Tetreault <mtetreault@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: 2 Students at UMD killed by Tornado

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) _ 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.

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