Howard County Surveys Tornado Aftermath

Howard County, MD — After a tornado toppled trees and knocked out power in Howard County Tuesday, emergency personnel had their work cut out for them.

Officials from the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford pledged resources on Wednesday to help with recovery, meeting with Howard County police and fire chiefs to survey the damage, according to County Executive Allan Kittleman.

"I want to thank the lieutenant governor and the state government as a whole for their support as we continue rebuild what was broken," Kittleman said in a statement. "Furthermore, I would like express how proud I am of our county employees and their response during these extenuating circumstances."

• Tornado Touched Down in Howard County: National Weather Service
• With Power Out, 8 HoCo Schools Closed
• More Than 22,000 Without Power in Howard County: BGE

To help with cleanup, the county is opening up two collection sites for yard waste in addition to the Alpha Ridge Landfill: Howard County Living Farm Heritage Museum, 12985 Frederick Road in West Friendship, and Burleigh Manor Middle School, 4200 Centennial Lane in Ellicott City.

For those without water, the county made two water buffalos available Wednesday and reported those would be available at 8 a.m. Thursday if still needed, at the Gary J. Arthur Community Center, 2400 Route 97 in Cooksville, and Glenelg High School, 14025 Burntwoods Road in Glenelg.

While more than 22,000 people were without power Tuesday evening, BGE reported the number of Howard County residents experiencing outages was down to 268 as of 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Only two school buildings were without power Wednesday afternoon—Glenelg High School and Glenwood Middle School—according to Howard County Public School System officials. All comprehensive summer school programs in high schools will open on time Thursday, officials reported.

Do you have storm damage near you? Tell us or add your pics in the comments!

Photo Credit: Howard County Government.