LA PLATA, Md. - Four days after the most violent tornado in state history crossed its lanes, East Charles Street
bustled with more than just traffic.
Officers from Andrews Air Force Base piloted golf carts filled with food and drinks
for workers. Trucks filled with Amish volunteers in wide-brimmed hats darted down residential roads, and cranes and bulldozers rumbled productively in the background. Residents and volunteers armed with chain saws and wheelbarrows cleaned yards littered with fallen trees and branches.
As Capt. Joe Burton, who spent the day distributing cooked meals and drinks from a Salvation Army truck, said, "We've got everyone from everywhere
here; we're just getting started."
More than 1,000 volunteers from church groups, state agencies and community service organizations are helping La Plata get back on its feet after an F5
tornado--the most powerful--tore through the town, county officials said.
Sunday's tornado, which packed winds in excess of 260 mph, killed at least
four people and damaged or destroyed more than 700 homes and about 200 businesses in La Plata and surrounding areas,
said Nicole Kelly, a spokeswoman for the county Sheriff's Office.
Tornado winds also caused destruction in Calvert and Dorchester counties.
With a police force of only 10, La Plata officials are thankful for the help, said La Plata Mayor William Eckman.
"We've had some of the greatest people in the world working and helping," Eckman said, addressing a crowd of more than 100 business owners affected by the tornado. "Without costing a dime to the town of La Plata," he added, sparking a round of applause in the crammed restaurant, used, temporarily, as a town hall.
The People's Place, a makeshift disaster center set up in the La Plata courthouse parking lot,
was giving tornado victims help, information or phone numbers they needed to find shelter and repair their homes. Volunteers said the center has had "just the number [of volunteers] we need."
Cindy Olmsted, a volunteer from La Plata, said in a phone interview Friday that more people were calling the People's Place to offer help than to ask for it.
Most of the requests for help have been for "strong back work" and clearing debris, said Christopher Otten, a volunteer from the Grace Lutheran Church and School in La Plata.
Not all volunteers came with a mission in mind. Ted McQuade, an unemployed steamfitter from Wheaton, said he drove down
Thursday just to see "what I could do to help." He said he had spent the last four days chopping trees and helping church groups distribute food.
"I'm real tired, but it's good to help out," McQuade said. "I'll probably be back tomorrow," he said, after a pause.
With a light rain falling Thursday on their tent in the La Plata courthouse parking lot, members of the Greater Waldorf Jaycee Foundation offered cranberry muffins and soda to hungry volunteers, police officers and residents. Volunteers from the foundation prepared to serve a dinner of fried chicken, green beans and cake.
"Don't worry, we didn't forget the chocolate," said the foundation's president, Pam Thompson. Thompson said about 40 Jaycee volunteers had been serving
home-cooked meals to victims and volunteers since Monday, and plan to stick around until Sunday.
At least 500 people stop by every day for meals, she said.
The positive spirit of the volunteers might not always cheer victims frustrated after losing a home or business. George Saunders, an American Red Cross volunteer from Arlington, Va., said he will spend the next few days transporting counselors to shelters and hotels where victims are staying.
"There's so much we still have to do," he said.
Saunders estimated that there were at least 300 to 500 volunteers from the American Red Cross doing "all sorts of work."
Maryland Newsline staffer Gloria Son contributed to
this report.
