Forwarded from Marty Schoch <marty@multicasttech.com> Some pictures of the UMD campus from a student after the tornado hit. http://www.glue.umd.edu/~eliu/tornado1_glue.htm

2 people dead, 50 injuried, 3000 evacuated.

Two tornadoes move across 70 miles of Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC. Winds were measured at a peak of 206 miles per hour. University of Maryland: College Park has canceled classes today, and Maryland's Governor has declared a state of emergency in Prince George's and Howard counties. Tornadoes are rare in this part of the country, and even rarer at this time of year.

The area has many different Internet facilities, data centers, and companies. Tornadoes generally create rather narrow paths of destruction. Public Internet performance measurements show two distinct, but minor blips near the time of the tornadoes. It does show the importance of having an "all-hazard" response plan, instead of concentrating on only one threat.

Marshall Eubanks tme@21rst-century.com