John Matthews
WMAL.com
STEVENSVILLE, MD — (WMAL) Eight days after a tornado ripped through the Kent Island/Bay City/Stevensville areas just east of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, Queen Anne’s County officials say they are making excellent progress in cleaning up debris and starting repairs.
153 structures – both homes and commerical properties – were damaged and 11 homes destroyed in the storm.
Officials say the biggest threat of all were the old-growth trees – many 60 to 70 feet tall and up to 36 inches in diameter – that fell onto homes and into streets.
David Rivett with the Queen Anne’s County Department of Emergency Services says more than 50 percent of the debris has already been cleared, and the rest should be cleared in the next week or so, though the work is really just beginning.
” I would expect that, in the end, it’ll probably take us close to two years for total recovery, but we are well on our way,” he says.
Rivett says the county and insurance companies have already relocated everyone who lost their homes in the tornado, and that the area is busy with contractors making repairs, replacing roofs and installing entire roofing systems.
A “Tornado Town Hall” meeting will be held tonight at 7 pm, so officials can meet with those impacted by the storm to find out what other needs they have that the government can meet.
“Basically, it’s not us telling them – it’s them telling us what are the unmet needs and what gaps have occured so we can address them and continue with an effective recovery,” says Rivett.
Copyright 2017 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: Queen Anne’s County Dept. of Emergency Services Twitter)
