College

Park suffers first tornado in 10 years

COLLEGE PARK, Md. Downtown College Park is in distress following the touchdown of a
category EF3 tornado at the intersection of Knox Road and College Avenue at 3:25 p.m.
according to the National Weather Service. The city has not experienced a tornado this severe
since 2006.

At least 2 dozen civilians seek treatment at Prince Georges County Hospital, and the mayors
office confirms four fatalities.

The Mowatt Garage has collapsed, trapping two fire trucks and an unknown number of
firefighters inside. Emergency teams have failed to stabilize the building at this time.

Downtown is still experiencing heavy thunderstorms which are expected to continue in the area
for another 45 minutes to an hour.

Currently, Mayor Grace Porter is speaking to Gov. Larry Hogan about the possibility of declaring
a state of emergency to receive additional resources from surrounding counties. She has
announced that emergency crews are being deployed at this time.

We are unsure how much damage has occurred at this time, said Mayor Porter.

Although Mayor Porter and her staff are unable to fully asses damage to the city, at least half
the area is without power and outages are expected to continue.

The Mayors office, running on a back-up generator, has received multiple calls about damaged
buildings. Most have broken windows, but at least one structure downtown is reported
severely damaged and in danger of collapsing.

The Red Cross is setting up shelters across the University of Maryland campus and other
neighboring schools to aid and treat survivors. Ritchie Coliseum is the only functioning shelter
at this time.

With a focus on Mowatt Garage, emergency teams are unable to evacuate the Commons
apartments that house many University of Maryland students. Individuals inside the Commons
should seek shelter on the ground floor or basement away from windows while waiting for
emergency teams to arrive.

It is unsure how far the tornado is expected to travel, said Mayor Porter. However, some
neighboring cities like Hyattsville and Greenbelt have been evacuated.

The Mayor and her team advise that in the areas of tornado warnings, civilians should take
shelter inside homes or buildings and avoid windows and areas surrounded by heavy trees.
Electric shocks are a problem, so they suggest that people stay away from electricity.
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