EF-2 Tornado Touches Down on Kent Island

Steve Burns

WMAL.com

KENT ISLAND – (WMAL) The National Weather Service has confirmed an EF-2 tornado touched down on Kent Island early Monday morning.

NWS, in a release, said the funnel formed first as a waterspout over the Chesapeake Bay before making landfall in the Bay City area of Kent Island around 1:29am. It traveled northeast into Stevensville before it lifted at 1:33am, moving approximately two miles.

“Maximum winds were estimated at 125 mph which makes this an EF2 tornado,” NWS’s release read. “Several wood framed townhomes had the upper floors entirely lifted off along with the roof; several other homes had either roofs lifted off and tossed or received other damage. One business was destroyed.”

Only one minor injury was reported, someone who was punctured by debris. Damage was reportedly widespread to power infrastructure. About 9,000 customers were initially without power. Delmarva Power was able to restore about 3,000, but a spokesman told WMAL the storm ripped through transmission lines, making it an arduous, and likely longer, process to return power to the other 6,000.

Crews continue to assess the extent of the damage caused by this morning’s unconfirmed tornado in #Stevensville and #Grasonville. pic.twitter.com/q7W3ommqBf

— Delmarva Power (@DelmarvaConnect) July 24, 2017