LAPLATA, Md. -- Damage assessment teams will spend the day trying to determine just how bad things are in Southern Maryland after a powerful tornado swept through two counties.

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Tornado Rips Through Maryland

Maryland State Police spokesman Corporal Rob Moroney said rescue teams will visit damage sites from La Plata to Benedict to make sure no one is trapped or in need of aid.

Charles County spokeswoman Nina Voehl says the National Weather Service is also sending a team later this morning to determine the strength of yesterday's tornado.

Vohel said they hope to know later Monday when people can return to their damaged homes and businesses.

Voehl said that 51-year-old William Gardner Erickson Jr. was killed when his house collapsed during a tornado Sunday night.

Erickson was one of two people killed in La Plata. Voehl said Erickson's wife, Susan, escaped from the house. She was flown by helicopter to a hospital. Her condition wasn't known.

Katie O'Malley-Simpson, a spokeswoman for Charles County schools said all public schools will be closed today. South Dorchester School also was closed on Monday because of debris on roads, and school bus service for the southern part of the county was canceled.

Maryland Emergency Management Administration spokesman Jack Cahalan said 93 people have been injured. He said 81 people have minor to serious injuries. Cahalan said another 12 people received critical injuries and have been sent to hospitals in the Washington area.

The tornado hit La Plata about 7 p.m. and damaged at least a 10-mile stretch from the town of about 6,500 to Hughesville in Charles County. A crumbled 6-foot brick wall was all that remained of a fast food restaurant in La Plata. One parking lot contained 20 crushed vehicles that authorities had cleared from streets.

Part of the Arch Bishop Neale School was leveled to its foundation. "It's awful," said Dennis Albrecht, who sends his three kids to the school. "I don't know what we're going to do for this school year."

A tornado also reportedly touched down in Calvert County, killing a person near Prince Frederick. A tornado also was reported on the Eastern Shore, but no injuries were reported there.

Cahalan said two structures were demolished in Dorchester County. Trees and telephone wires were uprooted, said Bruce McWilliams, a Dorchester County emergency management spokesman.

Many of the injured were treated at Civista Medical Center in La Plata, said CEO Chris Stefanides. "They're banged up and shocked, and they're frightened," Stefanides said. "I don't think they've ever really seen anything like this before."

The hospital itself was hit by the tornado, Stefanides said. Windows were blown out, but hospital workers had enough notice to move patients to safe areas, she said.

Gov. Parris Glendening activated the state's emergency management administration to deal with the aftermath, spokesman Mike Morrill said.

Charles County Sheriff Fred Davis said rescuers extracted several people from a collapsed building. Davis said rescue workers went from home to home in LaPlata, searching through rubble for people who might still be trapped. The sheriff said deputies from the Department of Natural Resources Police, La Plata police, St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office, Calvert County Sheriff's Office were mobilized, along with rescue crews from the Marine Corps, Anne Arundel, Montgomery and Fairfax counties.

Cahalan said power was knocked out in as many as 17,000 homes. By 4 a.m., he said power was still out to about 4,500 homes.

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