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Severe Storms Sweep Through Maryland, Causing Downed Trees And Power Outages

BALTIMORE (WJZ) - A powerful, fast-moving storm moved through the area Wednesday, bringing with it strong winds and damage.

A tree ripped from the ground ended up in the southbound lane of I-83, causing major backups.

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A downed tree on I-83 SB.

A fallen tree in Montgomery County damaged a house so badly that the family is displaced and a downed power line burned out of control.

"It was hot for a long time. If you see the crater down there, it's a pretty deep hole," one witness said.

Trees that were no match for the winds, roofs were crushed in Kensington and Silver Spring.

It was the same story in Baltimore City on Liberty Heights Avenue.

Damage reports also came in from a horse farm in Woodbine.

"Our rescue rig was flipped over on its side," one said.

But all the horses and caretakers are OK.

In Woodlawn, the Social Security building suffered serious damage from the high winds shortly after 2 p.m. Pieces of the roof were torn off, with heavy debris landing on the ground around the building.

"I was scared at first, I didn't know what was going," Cathy Glascock said.

The falling debris even knocked out some windows. One person was injured and hospitalized. Their current condition is unknown.

BGE is reporting about 3,000 outages in the area. Click here to check their outage map.

Meteorologist Tim Williams says a Severe Thunderstorm Watch was in effect for much of the state for most of the afternoon.

Temperatures climbed to about 75 degrees, and the warmth contributed to the unstable weather conditions. The temperatures and dew points have since dropped a bit.

Winds gusted up to 61 miles per hour during the height of the storms, causing some damage.

Other areas that have reported damage include Howard County, Anne Arundel County and north Baltimore, WJZ's Devin Bartolotta reports.

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A downed tree in Glen Burnie.

Stay with WJZ for the latest.

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