Harrison-Beard Building loses roof |
A large portion of the roof from the Harrison-Beard Building Lands on adjacent building and wires |
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Harrison-Beard Building loses roof |
A large portion of the roof from the Harrison-Beard Building Lands on adjacent building and wires |
Sept. 24, 2001. A tornado ripped a path of destruction through the city of Laurel up rooting trees and damaging homes. The early evening storm, which devastated parts of the University Of Maryland, cut a path from Laurel High School to Howard County. The tornado blew off roofs and toppled trees. At least one home on Tenth St. was completely destroyed while the Laurel High School Annex lost its roof. Members manning the station as the storm approached had to take cover in the basement. At one point the tornado looked like it was headed right for the firehouse said LVFD President Jimmy Collins. While members took cover, the tornado missed the firehouse but caused extensive damage to several homes just across Van Dusen Rd. in the Wellington development. From there it struck the high school on Cherry Lane and cut across into old Laurel damaging homes in Laurel Hills and the Montgomery St. area. LVFD firefighters, manning everything from fire trucks to utility vehicles to police cruisers responded to the many emergencies in the city. Every damaged structure was checked for injured or trapped residents and then secured by turning off the electric and gas. A command post was established at City Hall where fire department and city officials worked together to control the disaster. Maryland Governor Parris Glendening toured the City of Laurel Tuesday (25 Sept.) to inspect the damage. He declared Prince George's County a disaster area.
We have several pictures of the damage caused by the storm. Click here for a listing of what we have uploaded so far. Check back for more pictures soon.Photos by Jim Codespote, Phil Techau, and Dan Techau
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