By Sindya N. Bhanoo and James Hohmann
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, August 8, 2008
Nelly Romero was in the kitchen making lunch for her three young children yesterday when a tree crashed through the roof of her Brentwood home in Prince George's County.
She grabbed the kids from the living room and sought refuge in the family's minivan from the twisting, gray funnel cloud that witnesses described as a tornado.
"When I saw the tree, I just thought 'save my kids,' " said Romero, 30.
Heavy wind swept through the northern part of the District and portions of Montgomery and Prince George's counties yesterday afternoon, prompting the National Weather Service to issue a severe thunderstorm warning as rush hour began.
At 9:15 p.m., as severe thunderstorms pounded Southern Maryland, a 32-year-old Charles County man was struck by lightning while attaching a trailer to his pickup truck in Hughesville, said Captain Rob Cleaveland of the Charles County Sheriff's Office. The man, who police did not identify, was listed in critical condition at Southern Maryland Hospital Center in Clinton, he said.
Downed power lines closed roads and caused sporadic outages.
The Romero family's rented home in the 3400 block of Allison Street, which they were forced to leave, was at the center of a 10-square-block area in Brentwood and Mount Rainier hit by the severe weather, said Mark Brady, spokesman for the Prince George's County Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.
There were reports of hail the size of a penny two miles northwest of Bethesda in Montgomery County about 1:30 p.m., the weather service said.
Near the District's Lamond Riggs neighborhood in Northeast, at Kansas Street and Blair Road, Morris Davis Jr., 26, reported seeing a 30-foot-long tin roof pull away from a building and crash onto the street. He said he also saw two squirrels picked up by the wind, flying in the air.
"The insulation started lifting off the roof and twirling in the air," he said. "It looked like the top part of a funnel in the clouds with a trail of debris behind it."
Brian LaSorsa, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, said there was no confirmation that the reported twisting cloud was a tornado.
"As we evaluate the damage, we may go out and do a storm survey," he said.
In Northeast Washington, several trees and wires were reported down near Taylor and Varnum streets, LaSorsa said.
At 10:30 p.m., Pepco reported that about 4,300 customers were without power.
Montgomery County police spokesman Rodney Barnes said police responded to several reports of fallen power lines and trees blocking roads. Downed wires also forced the closure of Wightman Road as police waited for Pepco crews to respond.
Montgomery County officials reported tree branches and power lines down, which blocked part of the intersection at Seven Locks Road and Bradley Boulevard in Bethesda.
"We had some pretty intense cells roll through, but I don't think it was anything too extraordinary," said Pete Piringer, a spokesman for the Montgomery Fire and Rescue Service.
In the Olney area, a tree blew into a gas meter near a barn, causing a minor gas leak in the 18000 block of Cashell Road, he said. It took about 30 minutes to shut off the gas.
In Prince George's, southwest of College Park, several trees were felled, LaSorsa said.
In Mount Rainier, Mario Galarza, 63, said a tree in his back yard fell and ruined a trailer.
"I told my wife it's getting dark," he said. He was watching television and went to the window when he heard the storm brewing outside. "At first, it looked like it was a cloud. Then it started to become like a funnel. Then the wind came by. It lasted 15 seconds."
Yesterday evening, the displaced Romeros were unsure about where they would sleep as they sought to cram as much as they could into their van.
"It's a lot of pain for me and my kids," Romero said, "but it'll be okay."
Staff writer Clarence Williams contributed to this report.
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