Myles Grossman

Earlier this morning a grade F4 tornado went through the downtown area of College
Park causing severe damage to buildings, windows, and power lines. Citizens were
advised to evacuate downtown College Park to reach safety. There are only three known
fatalities because the power outage prevented callers from being able to reach the
emergency hotline.
Officials are in the process to fixing the power lines, but many questions remain
unanswered due to the lack of power and the malfunctioning of the emergency hotline
number.
We are not sure the cost of the damage at this point, but our number one concern is the
safety of our citizens, said Mayor Myles Grossman during a press conference. He
added that school buses have evacuated students to safety shelters.
Since many roadblocks resulted in cars not being able to pass, the mayor recommended
the Metro as a way to reach safety.
In a second press conference to give an update on the situation, the mayor and head
communications director informed the town that the tornado was initially given the grade
F3, but after Regents Parking Garage fell, it was reassessed and the additional damage
caused the grade to increase to an F4. The mayor said he doesnt expect anyone to
have been injured or killed by the collapse of the parking garage, but all cars parked
inside are likely totaled.
Helicopters circulated the area searching for people in need of rescue, but have not
discovered anyone. It appears the evacuation warning gave citizens enough time to
evacuate the area.
More information will be provided as it is released, but in the meantime the College Park
Police Department and Fire Department are working diligently to improve the situation.