GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Authorities in Montgomery County say they are feeling "lucky and fortunate" following a scary night of severe weather in the Gaithersburg area.
Fire officials went to the scene of three separate structural collapses in Gaithersburg. All of them near Gaithersburg High School.
The first one was located at 400 Dogwood Drive, the second was at 3 Holly Drive, and the third was at 200 Rolling Road.
Montgomery County Fire spokesperson Pete Piringer called the "epicenter" of severe weather damage Wednesday night.
Five people were rescued from the Dogwood Drive location. One person was pinned and needed to be removed via Technical Rescue Team. All five have been taken to a hospital.
One person has been removed from the Holly Drive after a large tree fell on the house. They were assessed on the scene and taken to a hospital. On Thursday, Piringer told WUSA9 that there were no serious injuries to the people inside the homes.
Outside the home on Dogwood Drive, Piringer estimated the tree that came down on the home was three feet wide and roughly 85 to 100 feet long.
He said all the people inside the home were able to get out. He said one person had "traumatic injuries, but not life-threatening," and they are expected to be OK.
"We're so lucky and fortunate that everybody heeded the advice, heard the warnings, sought shelter. I think as a result we didn't have any serious injuries county-wide but we were very busy for a period of time," Piringer said.
Billie Rey says she was in her living room watching the weather but didn't register what was really happening.
"In Gaithersburg, Maryland we're having a tornado," Rey said. "Just astonishment"
Her next-door neighbor Mike had literally just come out of his home to get something from his car and noticed something amiss.
"All the trees were going crazy," Mike said. He then watched as a tree fell down on two cars.
Both were shocked by the damage caused in the neighborhood but grateful it wasn't much worse.
Piringer said there were still some isolated power outages in the area early Thursday and cautioned those in the area to avoid any downed power lines as clean up efforts continue Thursday.
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