Maryland communities cleaning up in the aftermath of powerful storms, tornado

Baltimore and the surrounding areas are still recovering from an EF-1 tornado on Friday, leaving a wake of destruction.

The tornado brought wind gusts up to 110 mph, while damaging trees, buildings, and power lines.

Surveyors followed the storm damage along a corridor from Federal Hill to Canton, to Brewer's Hill, Dundalk, and Sparrows Point. 

"It's typically nice, but a lot of the storm can destroy a part of the land, and lots of trash will get built up," said Baltimore's Elizabeth Smith. 

The sounds of chainsaws gnawing through tree limbs were heard on Monday as crews and homeowners cleaned up for the powerful storms. 

"Typically, we get those tornado warnings, not a good amount, but to the point where you can just ignore it, and it will just be rain," Smith said. "But the fact that it was 70 mph winds ripping off the roofs of buildings, and the area went completely dark, it's pretty scary."

The storms left 74,000 Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) customers in the dark.

Dundalk Pumping Station overflow

In Dundalk, the Department of Public Works said a power outage from the storm caused the Dundalk Pumping Station to overflow sewage.

"So it wasn't rain water or storm water coming through here, it was just the normal operations of people flushing, using dishwashers, washing their hands, and it coming through the pipes and coming through the station," said Lauren Buckler, the Baltimore County public works director.

The power outage only lasted about three hours, but this is the first time they've had a complete outage at the plant. Operations are now back to normal.

Lightning strike sparks fire in Harford County

Perhaps the most devastating damage happened in Harford County, where the State Fire Marshal's office says a lightning strike caused a home in Jarrettsville to burn to the ground.

"I was at my house looking down the driveway and I seen a bunch of smoke coming from the house," said Harford County resident Tony Cogswell. "When I got to the scene, the porch was on fire."

Cogswell attempted to save the family's two dogs, but the smoke was already too thick.

"It's a terrible loss to go through," Cogswell said. "I'm telling you when I came out of the house, I was covered in soot head to toe."