Storms wreak havoc in Montgomery County with hail and toppled trees

Some residents in Montgomery County described Sunday’s storm as a white-out of hail that ripped through tree limbs and left debris scattered across front yards.

“It sounded like a hurricane,” said Matt Morris, of Silver Spring.

Once the clouds parted and the sun peaked through, Morris took out his rake and trash can to clean up as much debris as he could.

“The trees were sideways, leaves were everywhere. It was pretty crazy,” he said.

Morris, his wife and two young daughters watched the storm from a window before heading to the inside of the house, fearing a branch might break through.

Despite the warm weather, evidence of the storm remained when they walked outside.

“I’d say, not quite golf ball size but big bubble gum size hail for 15 minutes,” Morris said.

Just down the street, a 75-foot tree toppled down. It avoided nearby homes and landed near the road but did not block traffic. The ground was so saturated, the large tree was easily blown over.

About two blocks away from the tree, large branches littered front yards.

“Luckily, this and everything else that came down didn’t hit the cars,” said Richard Cady as he stood next to tree limbs that towered over his 6-foot tall frame.

Cady described the storm as so loud, he and his wife did not hear the branches breaking.

“The hail started, it blew really hard for about four or five minutes didn’t really hear any loud noises,” Cady said. “We came out and realized that this big old branch had fallen against the front of the house, and we’re lucky it didn’t come through the front of the window. Or through the roof!”

Many of the residents said they will clean up that pieces they can and hire professionals to tackle the larger jobs.