‘We’ve got to help one another:’ Tornado leaves significant damage across Sussex County

GREENWOOD, Del.- “We’ve got people that aren’t going to have electric. We’ve got people that don’t even have a house now. So, we’ve got to do everything we can to give them a sense of security and hope. Hope is the main thing,” Mayor West said.

In a matter of seconds, a tornado striking across 14-miles in Sussex County Saturday night.

The event sending a shockwave across communities in Bridgeville to Ellendale and putting EMS personnel into action. “We had responders from Kent and Sussex County come to the area and provided search and rescue efforts, support efforts, and to continue medical emergencies that were not directly related,” Sussex County Emergency Services PIO Glenn Marshall said.

“It created significant damage, and some individuals were either left trapped and there was unfortunately one fatality.”

The one fatality happened just off Tuckers Road in Greenwood, with only pieces of the home left to see. It’s the first confirmed death from a tornado in Delaware since the 1980s, according to the National Weather Service.

Governor John Carney weighing in. “We lost one person sadly. It hurts my heart. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and the many people that called him a friend,” Governor Carney said.

Georgetown Mayor William West made his way to Greenwood Sunday. He says although there wasn’t significant damage in his area it was important for him to show up for surrounding communities. “When we drove down into this community and started seeing the sites, we were just saying oh my god, oh my god. We gotta help these people. We got to help them anyway we can,” Mayor West said.

“This could’ve very easily been me. This could’ve very easily been the community of Georgetown. We’ve got to help one another and that’s what it’s about.”

Now much of those recovery efforts Saturday and Sunday started on a local and county level.  We’re told that the state will now take control of those efforts which includes the Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA).