RELATED: Firsthand account: Dahlgren employee recovers from shock

National Weather Service says tornado was an F4

LaPLATA, Md. - One person was killed and dozens injured after a tornado touched down in Charles County in southern Maryland on Sunday, damaging buildings in downtown LaPlata, a county spokeswoman said.

At least 42 people were being treated for injuries ranging from minor to serious at Civista Medical Center in LaPlata, said CEO Chris Stefanides.

"They're shocked," Stefanides said. "They're banged up and shocked, and they're frightened. I don't think they've ever really seen anything like this before."

The tornado hit about 7 p.m. and caused serious damage to at least a 10-mile stretch from LaPlata to Hughesville in Charles County.

The hospital itself was hit by the twister, Stefanides said. Winds blew out windows, but hospital workers had enough notice to move patients to safe areas, she said.

Several patients had been flown to emergency rooms outside Charles County, although Stefanides didn't immediately have details on where they'd been taken.

Residents said the twister struck quickly.

"It was about 20-feet wide," said Shawn Murphy, of the funnel cloud. "It just started tearing up everything," added Murphy, who was delivering pizzas at the time.

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.

He did not know their conditions.

A curfew was put into effect by local authorities to keep people off the streets.

The tornado cut a path through the center of the town, where roofs were ripped off buildings and windows were blown out, said Nina Voehl a county spokeswoman.

Debris littered downtown streets.

Tornadoes also touched down in Dorchester County near Taylor's Island and in Calvert County near the town of Bowens. There were no immediate reports of injuries in those tornadoes.