Hope Triumphs Over Chaos: The La Plata Tornado of April 28, 2002

by Anthony G. Puzzilla

Overview

The devastating F4 La Plata, Maryland tornado of April 28, 2002, was a significant event for several reasons. First, tornadoes along the Atlantic coast are not common. It tracked across the Chesapeake Bay almost to the Atlantic Ocean. Next, a tornado of this magnitude is extremely rare in the Northeast region. It is only the third to have occurred in the state of Maryland. La Plata has had two, in 1926 and 2002, and one occurred in Frostburg, Maryland in 1998. Also, The La Plata Tornado of April 28th was the strongest ever to strike Maryland, and the second strongest to ever hit the Northeast region. The strongest was the Worchester, Massachusetts F4 tornado that touched down on Tuesday, June 9, 1953.
The tornado originated along the Kentucky/West Virginia border, crossed the state of West Virginia over the Ridge and Valley, Blue Ridge and Piedmont Mountains, and then made it across Virginia. This is indeed a rare event as just like hurricanes, most storms weaken and dissipate when they cross over mountains. At that point in time, the tornado had traveled about four-hundred miles. Once across the Potomac River, it traveled across Charles, Calvert, Dorchester and Wicomico Counties in southern Maryland, a total distance of sixty additional miles, resulting in the total track for this tornado to be about four-hundred sixty miles, a truly remarkable meteorological feat.
The tornado caused in excess of $100 million dollars in property damage, destroying eight-hundred sixty residential homes and one-hundred ninety-four businesses in its wake.
Despite the severity and strength of this tornado, it could not measure up to the sheer determination of the people of the Town of La Plata to pick themselves up and rebuild their beloved town to even greater glory and splendor. The sheer force of the human spirit to overcome this natural disaster would not be denied.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940165815379
Publisher:	Anthony G. Puzzilla
Publication date:	04/02/2022
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Anthony (Tony) Puzzilla retired from the federal government in 2009 after forty-three years of distinguished service from 1966-2009. During his government years, the focus of his work was in the fields of disaster preparation, response, and recovery with the Departments of Energy and Homeland Security in affiliation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He is now a full-time writer and lecturer. While employed at the Department of Energy, Tony became the Emergency Support Function (ESF) #12 - Energy chair at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), beginning in early 1980, shortly after the agency was created in 1979. In this position, Mr. Puzzilla coordinated the deployment of ESF#12 personnel and assets to the disaster area, and kept FEMA informed of the "on the ground" activities of personnel as they interacted with the Energy Sector (electric power, crude oil, refined petroleum products, and natural gas). Prior to an actual FEMA activation, including of course during the hurricane season, which produces not only tropical storms and hurricanes, but tornadoes when these weather systems made landfall, Tony was involved in hurricane tracking and monitoring, as well as daily briefings to high level personnel at the Department of Energy. When Tony transitioned to the Department of Homeland Security after 9-11-2001, he carried along the regular duties he already had with FEMA. He was very active in this position until he retired from government service in 2009.
During his tenure in the government sector, Tony became a very active member of the National Hurricane Conference’s (NHC) Utilities Topic Committee. Within a few years of outstanding service on this committee, he became the Committee Chairperson. Eventually, Tony would be appointed to the Planning Committee of the NHC, while maintaining the position of Co-Chair of the Utilities Topic Committee. On April 24, 2019, Tony was awarded the Distinguished Service Award at the 2019 National Hurricane Conference for his “dedicated and long service, from 1980-2009, in supporting the deployment of energy personnel and assets to Presidentially Declared disasters.”
Tony has been a resident of La Plata, Maryland, for 43 years and is a member of the Historical Society of Charles County.