Jun 2, 2008 9:00 am US/Eastern
Heavy Damage Reported After Saturday's Storms
FORT WASHINGTON, Md. (WJZ) ―
A line of storms rolled through most of Maryland Saturday. Residents in Prince George's County were hit especially hard.
Mary Bubala reports some major damage was reported in Fort Washington, including several flipped over planes at a small airport.
Ed Knott wasn't ready for the call he got Saturday.
"He said, 'your plane took off.' I go 'huh?' He said, 'your plane took off,'" said Knott.
His plane took off without a pilot.
Strong winds lifted his Cesna right off the ground and sent it crashing back down on its roof.
Four other small planes at the Potomac Airfield suffered the same fate when a strong storm came ripping through Fort Washington in Prince George's County.
"I just saw debris going flying by. Leaves, tree limbs just go flying past the window there," said Elloise Tallman.
"It was dark, and it was kind of violent. I've never seen that heavy rain like that," said Alphonse Musafiri.
Trees lining the airfield snapped, some crushing a bus, and the winds ripped back part of the roof on a hangar.
Crews spent the day making repairs. No repairs were made on Knott's plane. It's now totaled, about a $70,000 loss.
"It's like losing a child. It's a great flying airplane, and the last day I flew it was Thursday," said Knott.
In the neighborhood behind the airfield, downed trees were in almost every single yard and in some cases, on rooftops.
All those downed trees meant downed power lines. PEPCO crews worked throughout the day Sunday to restore power to thousands of homes in Prince George's County.
"It was like sort of kind of a whirl, and you really couldn't hardly see anything but just this wind straight across the door," said Stanley Alston.
People like Alston won't soon forget Saturday's storm. He'll be cleaning up his yard for weeks.
The planes were anchored to the ground before being blown dozens of feet away.
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