April 28, 2002…a day that will live forever in infamy in the minds of the people of LaPlata. For on that day a tornado with wind that reaching access of 200 mph roared through downtown and leveled buildings, homes, and sadly even lives. The storm that started this mess originated in the Shenandoah Valley and became what is known as a supercell, or a long lived dangerous, rotating storm that has the potential to produce tornadoes. This storm crossed the Potomac River into Charles County where its most powerful and long lived tornado touched down just north of Raison MD at around 7:00pm. On the Fujita Scale, which ranks tornadoes on a scale from F0 to F5 based on damage, the storm spawned a small F1 tornado with winds near 100 mph. Then the storm grew in strength as it roared towards LaPlata, there it reached its strongest point with an official ranking of F4 with winds in access of 250 mph although other observation from other Meteorologists say it was damage that only a F3 tornado would, with winds around 200 mph.
After the tornado destroyed most of LaPlata’s downtown, it continued across Charles County across the Patuxent River into Calvert County where it destroyed some homes and did little other damage as the storms life was beginning to show signs of ending. Then the storm traveled over the Chesapeake Bay as workers at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant watched and snapped photos. The Storm then even caused damage on the eastern shore before its death later that night around 9:00pm. In the end, the storm left many families with destroyed homes, business owners without a business, and sadly five people dead.
After further study of the storm, it was concluded that the tornado was the strongest tornado to hit the east coast of the United States on record. That record may soon be broken after the tornadoes that ravaged North Carolina on April 16, 2011. Today in LaPlata, the Star Garden sits as a monument to the four who lost their lives in 2002 and also to school children whom lost their lives in a strong tornado that raided LaPlata in the early 1900’s. Nine years after the storm, life in LaPlata is the same or even better than before the tornado, but the scars of the storm are still existent in the town, reminding the citizens in and around LaPlata of the threat that always exists when severe weather is near.
