Tornado traps five in Gaithersburg home

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - A violent tornado ripped through Gaithersburg on Wednesday evening, toppling a tree onto a house and trapping five people inside. 

The incident occurred in the 400 block of Dogwood Drive, with the tree crashing through the center of the home, appearing to strike a bedroom, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesperson Pete Piringer.

Emergency responders managed to remove four occupants from the home, while a fifth person, who was pinned by the debris, was extricated by the Technical Rescue Team. All five individuals were transported to the hospital via a Mobile Ambulance Bus, with one of them suffering traumatic injuries.

"The tree crushed the house. The tree and the house were on top of these people," Piringer explained, highlighting the severity of the situation.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue also responded to a similar incident in the unit block of Peony Drive, where another tree had fallen onto a house. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in that case. 

Utility company Pepco was dispatched to address multiple downed wires in the area.

The tornado's path of destruction began in Poolesville around 7:00 p.m., impacting three houses in the Dogwood Drive neighborhood and another on Rolling Drive, where residents were similarly trapped. 

Those residents, Piringer said, were safely removed from their homes without traumatic injuries.

Debris and downed wires cluttered the roads along West Deer Park Road, creating additional hazards in the aftermath of the storm. 

The community faces a significant cleanup and recovery effort as officials begin to assess the full extent of the damage.