Tornadoes confirmed in Maryland and Virginia

By Thursday evening, the National Weather Service had determined that a tornado occurred in Maryland's Calvert County, near Chesapeake Beach, and in Virginia's Clarke County, near Millwood. Preliminary damage assessments also indicated that tornadoes likely touched down in Culpeper and Stafford counties.

A tornado in Chesapeake Beach is the one that touched down at the Trader's Seafood Steak and Ale Restaurant.

The Maryland tornado was rated as a Category EF-O tornado, the weakest classification on the scale. It ran on a 1 1/2-mile path, knocking down trees and tearing roofs off several homes and a restaurant.

The Clarke County tornado was rated as a small EF-1 tornado, the next highest classification, with a path about a half-mile in length. It damaged a stand of trees.

The weather service said its survey teams are continuing to assess damage in the region.

Outages

Power crews have been working around the clock to restore electricity to tens of thousands of customers whose power went out because of the storms.

Area electric companies called in contractors and other companies to help.

"Atlantic City Electric and Delmarva Power, those are our sister companies. We also have contractor crews from New York, Pennsylvnia and North Carolina," says Pepco spokesman Bob Dobkin.

While you may be broiling without power, so are the crews working on those lines, he says.

"They're working around the clock in that same weather. And it's a difficult job. They need to do it safely. But they are going to stay at it until it is done."

Maryland's Public Service Commission says there have been very few complaints about the response from utility companies in the wake of the storms.

As of 6 p.m. Friday, Pepco reports more than 7,000 outages; Dominion Virginia has more than 8,000; Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative, 700; BGE, 3,000; and Allegheny Power, 1,100.

The numbers are down from 384,000 early Thursday.

Weather Fatality

A 57-year-old Delaware man was killed when a tree fell and crushed the 1995 Toyota 4Runner he was riding in. Huu Dai Pham was killed instantly.

The driver, a 62-year-old Annandale man, was driving south on Hummer Road just past Gallows Road around 3:10 p.m.

(Copyright 2008 by WTOP Radio and The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)