BOWIE, Md. — The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touched down Tuesday evening near Bowie.
The NWS Baltimore-Washington surveyed the damage along the Somerset Subdivision, north of Bowie, and nearby areas. The EF-1 tornado had wind gusts of 90 mph with a path width of 125 yards and path length of 1 mile.
The tornado started at 5:31 p.m. and lasted for about three minutes.
RELATED: Powerful storms leave trees, powerlines down in Bowie, Anne Arundel Co.
NWS said a superstorm thunderstorm spawned a brief EF-1 tornado and initially touched down around Tarragon Lane and moved eastward toward Bowie High School Annex before heading to the Somerset Subdivision.
PHOTO GALLERY: Damage from Tornado Warning in Anne Arundel County
The tornado caused extensive tree damage in the Somerset Subdivision and a tree fell on a home on Stafford Lane.
Officials said the concentrated areas of damage were between Saber and Stafford lanes, but more trees were knocked down along Buckingham Drive to White Marsh Branch.
There were trees down on powerlines, which snapped several supporting utility poles.
People in the area told WMAR-2 News they lost power.
"My lights started flickering off and on, I walked outside on my front porch and I saw branches and debris flying over top of the trees, a big circular motion, and the next thing I know, I saw the branches up the street get ripped off the trees," John Sohydra said. "Within like 10 seconds, everything just stopped and disappeared."
A day later, Bowie residents are cleaning up the mess left by the destructive storm.
“It’s good,” said Rick Macchio. “It’s all about showing God's love around us.”
Although the tornado didn't last long, those residents said it left long lasting damage.
"A large tree in the front yard got knocked down, as well as a tree in the backyard, that knocked down powerlines from the house, and knocked the power out," Thad Rush said.
"The tree was off the house, but all the limbs that were on it were basically pushed through a hot tub, and a lot of debris was still leaning against the house, and so I was clearing out a lot of branches," Macchio added.
Some residents are still without power as BGE works to fix the lines.
However, as homeowners worry about the cost of damages, insurance companies say as long as you have homeowners insurance you should be covered.
"The insurance companies will come out and they will assess the damage and if the damage is actually more than the deductible, and it's not repairable, they will actually replace everything, and bring it back to new," said insurance manager Scott Bolden.
Residents said they rallying together to restore their community.
"Nobody really got hurt, some property damage, we can replace, but nobody lost their lives. That was a good thing," Macchio said.
The NWS also confirmed an EF-unknown tornado in the Harwood community in Anne Arundel County.
