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NWS Confirms EF-1 Tornado Touched Down In Salisbury

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Another rare tornado hits Maryland with winds more than 100 mph.

It tore through Salisbury Monday. It destroyed some buildings while leaving other untouched.

The National Weather Service confirmed what area residents believed once this storm hit. The National Weather Service classified it as an EF-1 tornado.

RELATED: Tornado Touches Down In Salisbury Amid Major Storm Damage

They said because of the tropical nature of this twister, they were unable to provide a warning until it had already touched down.

The stunning scenes on the ground, caused cars to be lifted and tossed like toys led to the National Weather Service's determining an EF-1 tornado had occurred, with maximum wind speeds at around 105 miles an hour.

"The wind was blowing around the house and the trash cans and everything went flying," says Ginny Hussey, storm survivor.

"Everything turned gray and it was just loud roaring noise, and it was scary," says Melissa Riggin.

Warm, unstable air and super cell thunderstorms fuelled the tornado. National Weather Service Investigators says it had the same characteristics of storms seen in tropical systems.

"All the rotation was in the lowest part of the storm. You couldn't find any rotation up 10,000, 12,000 feet in the atmosphere. It was in the lower 3 to 4 or 5,000 feet. That's pretty typical of a tropical tornado," says Bill Sammier, with the National Weather Service.

The city condemned two homes. A tree sliced the second floor of one them in half. The storm destroyed several cars as it downed trees on its more than one-mile long path through town.

"Incredible that no one was injured in this neighborhood. A lot of people are feeling grateful it wasn't worse. There's a sense of relief," says Mayor of Salisbury Jacob Day.

Now the extensive cleanup is underway and people in Salisbury are counting their blessings.Those frightening few moments could have been so much worse.

"We're all very lucky. Very very lucky," says Riggin.

And people will not forget the few minutes this storm tore through here. The other tornado to hit Queen Anne's County two weeks ago was an E-F2 with winds around 120 miles an hour.

No injuries have been reported from this tornado.

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