Powerful storms leave trees, powerlines down in Bowie, Anne Arundel Co.

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, Md. — Whipping winds caused destruction in parts of Bowie, Prince Georges County and Anne Arundel County Tuesday evening.

Residents are left cleaning up the debris and knocked down trees and powerlines after a storm bulled through their communities.

Some residents think they may have been in the middle of a tornado.

John Dallas said he was sitting on his porch having dinner when fierce winds came rushing in.

“The tree started rocking, and I mean rocking, really, really hard,” Dallas said.

PHOTO GALLERY: Damage from Tornado Warning in Anne Arundel County

A Tornado Warning was extended three different times in Anne Arundel County and Prince Georges County before expiring at 6:45 p.m.

• At 5:20 p.m., a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located near Lanham-Seabrook, or near Bowie, moving southeast at 25 mph.
• At 5:44 p.m., a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located near Londontowne, or near Bowie, moving southeast at 25 mph. The National Weather Service reported that an an off duty meteorologist reported a funnel cloud.
• At 6:29 p.m., a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located over Deale, moving southeast at 25 mph. Locations impacted include Shady Side, Deale, Friendship and Tracys Landing.

Those winds caused damage throughout the neighborhood near Buckingham and Stonybrook drives.

A confirmed tornado touched down in Bowie around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, near the intersection of Bradford and Buckingham. Another confirmed tornado hit near Shady Side.

There were also reports of damage near Annapolis Road and Superior Lane in Bowie.

Trombone Joe Jackson

The storm knocked down powerlines, large trees and telephone poles.

Twitter follower Trombone Joe Jackson shared a photo of a tree falling onto a house.

Twitter follower DeeJayTnyce shared photos of large trees toppling over in Bowie.

DeeJayTnyce

BGE crews assessed the damage at Shetland Lane and Stonybrook Drive in Bowie, just one of the areas ravaged by the storm.

Bowie resident John Sohyda said his community is dealing with power outages and downed trees.

He thinks he may have seen a tornado come through.

"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," he said. "Within like 10 seconds, everything just stopped and disappeared."

From downed trees to powerlines, crews were working to clean up debris and restore power.

“Emergency management team have been on top of this from the beginning, very quick response,” Bowie Mayor Tim Adams said. “Police, fire, you know, we’ve got the power company out and we’re still doing assessments.”

There were no reports of any major injuries.

“It seemed like it was five seconds but it was probably a full minute before we realized,” neighbor Chris Lee said. “By the time I grab the kids and got underneath the stairs, it was a good minute but to me it felt like five seconds and it was over.”