JazzManJim
On the Downbeat
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2001
- Posts
- 27,360
When we last spoke to our intrepid Jazzman, he was recounting the brief story of a tornado that went through the town of LaPlata on Sunday night.
Let me just say that a couple of days later, this tornado is something that no one in the area will ever soon forget. The ZNational Weather Service said that the storm was an F5 on the Fujita Scale, with winds that reached over 260 mph. Most of the center of the town of LaPlata is gone - absolute rubble and splinters. The latest estimate is that 40 buildings were completely destroyed and over 70 more have been condemned and will need to be torn down. Damage estimates are heading into the hundreds of millions. This was the second worst tornado to strike the East Coast in history, and the worst in the State (though not the most deadly).
The casualty toll is amazing - 3 dead and 120 injured. What amazes me is that only three were killed. That the tornado came through on a Sunday night was a minor miracle. That it brushed by a filled church and only tore off the roof, then veered away from a hospital was another.
The Governor has asked for the county to be declared a Disaster area, along with two other counties which suffered less damage.
I've not been down to the scene yet. I plan to go as soon as I can get time from the finals. Not only do I want to see this for myself, but I want to lend a hand. There's a lot of cleaning up that needs to be done and the cleanup's going to continue for a while yet. One cool thing which did happen during the week is that the Amish, from the area and nearby counties, showed up. They weren't asked to help. They just arrived and started helping people gather what possessions were intact. They helped with heavy lifting, hauling, packing cars and trucks. There was no annoncement and no fanfare. They just showed up and got to work. You have to love that.
Check out the photos at www.washingtonpost.com
Remember, this is Maryland, not Kansas.
Let me just say that a couple of days later, this tornado is something that no one in the area will ever soon forget. The ZNational Weather Service said that the storm was an F5 on the Fujita Scale, with winds that reached over 260 mph. Most of the center of the town of LaPlata is gone - absolute rubble and splinters. The latest estimate is that 40 buildings were completely destroyed and over 70 more have been condemned and will need to be torn down. Damage estimates are heading into the hundreds of millions. This was the second worst tornado to strike the East Coast in history, and the worst in the State (though not the most deadly).
The casualty toll is amazing - 3 dead and 120 injured. What amazes me is that only three were killed. That the tornado came through on a Sunday night was a minor miracle. That it brushed by a filled church and only tore off the roof, then veered away from a hospital was another.
The Governor has asked for the county to be declared a Disaster area, along with two other counties which suffered less damage.
I've not been down to the scene yet. I plan to go as soon as I can get time from the finals. Not only do I want to see this for myself, but I want to lend a hand. There's a lot of cleaning up that needs to be done and the cleanup's going to continue for a while yet. One cool thing which did happen during the week is that the Amish, from the area and nearby counties, showed up. They weren't asked to help. They just arrived and started helping people gather what possessions were intact. They helped with heavy lifting, hauling, packing cars and trucks. There was no annoncement and no fanfare. They just showed up and got to work. You have to love that.
Check out the photos at www.washingtonpost.com
Remember, this is Maryland, not Kansas.
