We just had a little tornado in Gamber MD (southern Carroll County) about 20 miles outside Baltimore. I drove out and took a look at the damage. Hundreds of yards from where the twister did the worst damage, I started to see debris, mostly aluminum and vinyl siding, fiberglass insulation and little bits of wood. The police wouldn't let anyone into the area of worst damage so I parked a little way up the road at some kind of club. There was a field there with small and large tree branches all over it. I found a piece of plate glass about 6 by 4 inches on the grass, which had come from about a quarter mile away. There were pieces of aluminum siding bent around fences and trees. Some of the trees had their tops twisted completely off. Anyone who tried to approach the damaged houses were was threatened with arrest by the police, who were a bit testy. Several people were trying to check on friends or check houses for friends who were on vacation but were stopped by the police. I walked around the long way and saw many houses with some or all of the siding missing from one side of the house. Four or more houses had the entire roof and second floor missing. I think there were at least 25 or 30 homes damaged.

Two children had been "sucked" out into the back yard when one of the houses lost its second floor. The houses with the worst damage were on a slight hill. One woman said she looked out her window and saw a tractor fly by. Several people saw parked cars become airborne. One house was said to be moved on its foundation. A barn in front of the houses was totally destroyed. This is very unusual weather for Maryland...

I found a broken 78 rpm record with German writing on it and someone said it had probably belonged to his neighbor about a quarter of a mile away who was German. There were clothes and personal items scattered all over.

I am fairly certain that this was an F2 tornado... (Since then I heard on the TV that it was an F3) I just heard on the TV tonight that it was an F3 with winds in the range of 175-200 mph and a 1 mile damage path which was 300 to 400 yards wide. There was also an F1 tornado and possibly several others which are as yet unconfirmed. They said that it had multiple vorticies)

Date:    Fri, 19 Jul 1996 17:17:57 -0400
From:    Matt Rosier mattr@CCPL.CARR.LIB.MD.US
Subject: Special tornado damage report

***SPECIAL TORNADO DAMAGE REPORT***

LOCATION: GAMBER, MD IN CARRROLL COUNTY

TORNADO REPORTED, 25-50 HOUSES DAMAGED, ROOFS BLOWN OFF HOUSES.

   **1 INJURED**
INFANT BLOWN OUT WINDOW

MJR

July 18, 1996--the Oakfield, Wisconsin tornado

Date: Wed, 17 Jul 1996 20:03:04 +0800
From: Grant Watt
Subject: Perth, Western Australia

We had a small tornado here on Monday evening this week. About 30 houses were damaged. Roofs were ripped off by the tornado. The weather bureau estimated winds were in excess of 200 kph in the tornado, which would place it at F2 level. The tornado was small but unusual in that it was a winter tornado that followed the squall line of a thunderstorm cell forming just West of Rottnest Island, just off the coast then touching down south of the city over a 4km path.

Date of tornado: June 24, 1996
A young girl named Gianna wrote an account of the experience she had at a summer camp. You can read about it here.

Date of tornado: June 21, 1996
From: Mary Lorenz
Subject: tornado at Beal City, Michigan

I live in Beal City, Michigan and on June 21, 1996 a tornado hit north of my house. The tornado hit at approximately 9:20 p.m. I was talking on the phone when I noticed a black cloud out the front window. At first, I thought the woods were on fire, but then I noticed the cloud was moving. I called to my parents to look outside and my dad said it was definetely a tornado. There was nothing we could do. The tornado was moving northeast. We just watched the tornado move across the section and later realized how severe the damage was to our neighbors' property.

At least five different locations were hit by the tornado, causing more than $500,000 in damage. Kim Scully had an estimate of $40,000 worth of damage. Her garage was ripped about two feet off its foundation. Her front yard was filled with uprooted trees, one of which was moved more than 20 feet. A 20-foot camper was thrown at least 50 feet across the yard, smashing the roof of a 1989 Pontiac before landing in shreds in an uprooted tree. Kim was on her way home from work when she noticed the black clouds. She said that she had to get home to her two children who were home alone. She ran in the house and grabbed her 13-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son and told them to get in the basmeent. "I could hear wind and glass braking," Scully said. "Within less than 30 seconds it was over." A corn stalk was driven into the corner of a second floor wall by the high winds.

Another resident affected by the tornado was Robert and Maxine Finnerty. They lost an estimated $170,000 in buildings and equipment. A barn, tool shed, farm equipment and a chicken coop were destroyed by the tornado. Between 75 and 100 chickens were dead. Four other barns were damaged, along with the garage door and chimney. Trees were uprooted and windows were broken.

Fred Yuncker who lives a mile west of Scully and Finnerty's was not home when the tornado struck his place. His garage was lifted off the foundation, twisted and dropped, he said. The garage stood about three or four feet tall after the tornado. An antique Model A Ford, valued at $12,000 was destroyed, along with a second garage not attached to the house. His estimated damage is $40,000.

Don and Gerry Schumacher's property was also struck by the tornado. The sides of their barn were blown off, a milking shed was damaged, and part of the roof of a pole barn was torn off. Parts of their barn were found miles away.

Dave Zeien, who lives next door to Don and Gerry Schumacher, had some minor damage in his property. He was giving his son a bath, when he noticed the wind picking up outside. He looked outisde and told his wife that they needed to get in Schumacher's basement. Dave and Jamie live in a trailer house. They grabbed their son, Adam and opened the front door. Trees were blowing everywhere. They decided it was too dangerous and safer to stay inside. Dave said, "It was on top of us so fast." After the tornado passed, they could look out and see it moving away.

The last tornado to hit in the area was in May 1956, but similar type winds were present during a severe wind storm in July 1977. The first confirmed tornado in the area occurred in 1879 in the nothwestern area of Weidman.

According to Capt. William Burns, director of Emergency Management of Isabella County and Isabella County undersheriff, "Quite often people think it's a tornado and it's just high winds. This was in fact a tornado.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI
542 AM EDT SAT JUN 22 1996
...SEVERE WEATHER AND OTHER SIGNIFICANT STORM REPORTS FOR
        ...FRIDAY JUN 22 1996...
TIME(EDT)   .....LOCATION.....    STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
945 PM      2NE BEAL CITY          MI    TORNADO...
            ISABELLA COUNTY              PATH LENGTH APPROXIMATELY 4
                                         MILES.  INITIAL TOUCHDOWN
                                         ABOUT 1.5 MILES NORTHEAST
                                         MILES OF BEAL CITY...MOVED
                                         NORTHEAST ACROSS NOTTAWA
                                         TOWNSHIP...CROSSED CHIPPEWA
                                         RIVER AND ENDED WEST OF
                                         WHITEVILLE RD/VERNON RD
                                         INTERSECTION. 4 BARNS
                                         DESTROYED...3 HOMES
                                         DAMAGED.  SEVERAL OTHER
                                         BARNS/OUTBUILDINGS/GRAIN
                                         SILOS DAMAGED.  SOME FARM
                                         MACHINERY ALSO DAMAGED.  NO
                                         INJURIES.

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