Rain and flooding remain in the forecast for Wednesday, as officials survey the damage caused by Tuesday’s thunderstorms, heavy rain, strong winds and at least one tornado. The National Weather Service said an EF-1 twister touched down in Bowie just after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. The tornado’s maximum width was 125 yards, and it was on the ground for about three minutes as it carved a milelong path. Wind speeds topped out at 90 mph. In a statement Wednesday, the city of Bowie said there were no reported injuries, but a few homes and 20 trees were damaged. The weather also caused power outages impacting about 300 customers. The city water plant on Bradford Lane also sustained minor damage in the storm, but water service was not interrupted. A smaller EFU tornado (with unknown wind speed) was detected outside Harwood, Maryland. It formed shortly before 6 p.m. It was about 50 yards wide and carved a path for about a tenth of a mile. Meteorologist Dan Hofmann said the weather service will likely be reviewing data over the course of Wednesday to determine other tornadoes that may have formed. In Shady Side, there was visual evidence of tornadic activity, and again, an investigation will be conducted on whether there was a tornado that passed by.
Clear rotation & airborne debris associated with storm at 5:34pm EST in Bowie, MD. Rotation traveled over Annapolis Road between route 197 & route 3 #tornadowarning pic.twitter.com/4ZbNvhPr7E
— Meg (@Meg_Handtruck) July 5, 2022
Trishia Martinez was at home when a tree fell on her house. It sounded like a “train out of nowhere,” she said, adding that the tree almost hit her and her brother. Martinez said that she could see the tree from inside the house, and it took out walls. The roof in that part of her house was also completely caved in and the fence was destroyed. After a storm passed through one Bowie neighborhood, neighbors were pitching in with chain saws trying to clear a large tree and debris at Sara and Shield lanes.
Neighbors are already pitching in with power saws removing debris from suspected tornado damage ar Sara and Shield Lanes. There are several big sycamore trees toppled by the storm in this neighborhood @WTOP pic.twitter.com/YXqIuI1ly1
— Dick Uliano (@DickUliano) July 6, 2022
The city of Bowie says that due to the significant tree damage, it will relax yard waste set-out rules for July 13 and 20 in the Buckingham and Somerset neighborhoods. WTOP’s Rick Massimo, Valerie Bonk, Ivy Lyons and Dick Uliano contributed to this report.