On the evening April 28, 2002, a strong weather system moving east over the Appalachian Mountains spawned a tornado that would bear down on the town of La Plata.
Current Mayor of La Plata Jeannine James had only been in the area a year when the storm pummeled the Charles County town.
“When we were alerted that there was a tornado coming to Southern Maryland we didn’t believe it,” James said.
James and her family took shelter as the F4 twister cleaved a path through the center of downtown La Plata, killing three and injuring another 122 people.
The storm caused over $100 million in damage in the worst tornado the town had seen since the twister of 1926, which killed 17, including 13 school children, and injured 35.
Former La Plata Mayor Bill Eckman was at his home in La Plata with his wife and children when the storm came through.
“It seemed like a very nice day, I think that’s one of the great shocks. It was a nice sunny Sunday afternoon. There wasn’t any bad weather conditions prior to that,” Eckman said.
Eckman said he was called by then-town manager Doug Miller and informed that the storm was coming.
When Eckman looked out the door, he described hearing a loud roar as the tornado passed near his home.
“It sounded like a great big fan going,” Eckman said.
Downtown La Plata was leveled by the storm as homes and businesses were torn apart, leaving devastation in its wake.
Sheriff Troy Berry (D) was a sergeant in the Charles County Sheriff’s Office 20 years ago.
Organizing from the county administrative building, the sheriff’s office went house to house searching for injured and trapped residents.
Berry said the most rewarding to him was the resilience of the community and the support from other government agencies.
“We were reassured that we weren’t in this situation alone,” Berry said.
After the storm, the sheriff’s office developed an all-call system to better coordinate mass responses to emergency situations.
Despite the destruction, the storm provided a silver lining for the town of La Plata.
Eckman said that the town had just completed a visioning plan to upgrade traffic and other systems but was struggling to find the funds to bring the project to life.
During the process, town officials had been working with the Maryland Department of Transportation and John D. Porcari, former secretary of the department.
Rebuilding from the tornado provided the opportunity for the town to build back better.
“He [Porcari] came up to me and said, ‘Well mayor, I guess you got your vision plan,’” Eckman said.
The detailed plans of that visioning process became the blueprints for a rebuild that would reshape the town.
The town also worked with county officials to provide a five-year phase-in on taxes for property owners that upgraded their buildings when building back.
The town also provided similar tax breaks that became the basis for the Commercial Real Property Improvement and Rehabilitation tax credit now offered by the Charles County Department of Economic Development.
La Plata will mark the 20th anniversary of the storm next Thursday, April 28, at 6:30 p.m. on the town hall concert lawn.
The U.S. Navy Band Commodores will perform after remarks by James and a moment of silence for the lives lost in the storm.
A memorial will also be on display in the town hall atrium that will include a video of La Plata residents recounting their experiences during that day.
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