Several Buildings Across Md. Collapse Under Weight Of Snow

BEL AIR, Md. (WJZ) -- The snow is causing even more problems. The weight of it just too much for some buildings, causing multiple collapses across the region.

Meghan McCorkell has a look at the damage.

Along Falls Road in Hampden, you can see the power of that snow. Several front porches caved in under the pressure.

Splintered wood is all that's left after three porches collapsed during Saturday's snow.

At Corcordia Prep in Towson, the field house roof caved in.

In Montgomery County, horses had to be saved when the roof collapsed at a Poolesville barn.

And In Bel Air, caution tape and "do not enter" signs mark the front of the Safeway, where the roof came down.

Firefighters searched the store for customers.

"They also checked the video cameras inside the store to double check there was no one inside," said Rich Gardner, Harford County Fire and EMS.

You can see right into the back of the building, where a giant hole is ripped into the brick wall where the ceiling caved in.

"You get an accumulation of snow that builds up, does not blow off the roof. It tends to stay there like a snow drift, and it can only handle so much weight," said Rodney O'Neal, Unlimited Restoration, Inc.

So with feet of snow on top of a roof like that, how do you safely assess the damage? Bring in the drone.

From high above, crews get a bird's eye view without having to put someone on the roof.

"It's compromised. If anyone goes to walk on there, you can create more of a collapse and then you have someone going through the roof," says O'Neal.

Now they'll begin the process of trying to fix all that damage.

Reconstruction crews say it could be weeks before that Safeway could reopen.

Fortunately, no injuries have been reported in any of those collapses.