Power outages hit Mid-Atlantic after storm; 4 dead
It could take days to restore power to hundreds of thousands of people around Washington after a storm downed power lines and trees and left four people dead, officials said Monday.
The Sunday storm brought cooler weather to the Mid-Atlantic region, which has been through a nearly two-week heat wave, but also left widespread damage in Washington and its suburbs.
Power outages affected more than 430,000 customers. Officials said they hadn't seen a similar outage since Hurricane Isabel in 2003.
Regional utility Pepco reported late Monday that about 182,000 customers were without power in Washington and neighboring Maryland counties. The widespread damage made it unclear when most would be restored, spokesman Bob Hainey said. Major power lines were down, electric poles were broken, and numerous transformers were damaged.
Other electric companies in the region predicted power would be mostly restored by Monday or Tuesday night.
Four deaths in the region were blamed on the storm.
Officials say 63-year-old Warren Douglas Smith died after encountering severe winds and choppy seas on the Chesapeake Bay while trying to return to land on personal watercraft.
In Beltsville, Md., a tree crushed a minivan, killing 44-year-old driver Michelle Humanick and injuring her passenger.
In Virginia, a 6-year-old boy also died after a tree fell on him while he was walking with his family. In Pennsylvania, police say a 53-year-old woman was apparently electrocuted by a fallen power line in her back yard.
Even as cleanup was going on, the power outages were causing disruptions. Numerous traffic signals were out. In Fairfax County, firefighters responded to 22 fires in the storm's aftermath, and nine car accidents were blamed on the storm. In Prince George's County, Md., darkened traffic signals caused about a dozen accidents.
In Washington, officials said there were more than 270 reports of damage from fallen trees or limbs. Fire department spokesman Pete Piringer said about half a dozen homes were significantly damaged by falling limbs. Three cars caught fire as a result of downed power lines.
Mike Allen, 22, was in the attic of his mother's home in Washington when he heard a loud boom. A three-story tall tree had fallen, uprooting a power pole, blocking the home's front entrance and cracking an attic wall.
"There are a lot of streets in the neighborhood where a similar thing has happened," he said. "It's pretty wacky."
Bethesda, Md., resident Mei Zhang initially enjoyed looking at the storm before her power went out.
"The storm hit. The trees were swirling. It was an incredible show outside my window ... It reminded me of 'Wizard of Oz,'" she said.
Officials warned residents of downed lines. Baltimore Gas & Electric said about 8,500 customers were without service late Monday, down from 112,000. The majority were expected to have power by Tuesday evening. Dominion Virginia Power reported about 1,600 customers without power, down from 94,000. Most of those should have power Monday night.
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission said the storm also cut off power at its filtration plant that provides water for nearly 2 million people in suburban Maryland. Mandatory restrictions on water use were lifted late Monday after power was restored.
Related info :
- Ice Storm - Ice storms are one of the most dangerous forms of winter weather. When surface temperatures are below freezing, but a thick layer of above freezing air remains aloft above ground level, rain can fall into the freezing layer and freeze upon impact into a "glaze". In general, 8 millimeters (1/4 in) of accumulation is all that is required, especially in combination with breezy conditions, to start downing power lines as well as tree limbs.[1] Ice storms also make unheated road surfaces too slick to drive upon. Ice storms can vary in time range from hours to days and can cripple both small towns and large urban centers alike.
- Blizzard - There are varying definitions for blizzards, both over time and by location. In general, a blizzard is accompanied by gale-force winds, heavy snow (accumulating at a rate of at least 5 centimeters (2 in) per hour), and very cold conditions (below approximately -10 degrees Celsius or 14 F). As of late, the temperature criterion has fallen out of the definition across the United States[2]
- Snowstorm - A heavy fall of snow accumulating at a rate of more than 5 centimeters (2 in) per hour that lasts several hours. Snow storms, especially ones with a high liquid equivalent and breezy conditions, can down tree limbs, cut off power, and paralyze travel over a large region.
Power outages plague DC area after storms; 2 dead
Hundreds of thousands of people were without electricity Monday in the Washington area and may not get power back for days after powerful storms toppled utility poles, power lines and trees and left two people dead.
A cold front that pushed through Sunday triggered the storm and took the edge off a nearly two-week heat wave, but highs up to 90 were still forecast as crews labored to restore the power grid in neighborhoods pummeled by gusty winds and torrential rains.
The storms knocked out power to more than 430,000 customers in the region.
On Monday, regional utility Pepco reported about 232,000 customers were still blacked out in Washington and neighboring Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland. Because the damage was so widespread, there was no timetable for most places to be back on line, Pepco spokesman Bob Hainey said.
"This is going to be a multiple-day event," Hainey said, comparing the outages to those in the wake of Hurricane Isabel in 2003.
Not only were power lines down but electric poles were broken and numerous transformers were damaged, he said.
Two deaths were also attributed to the storm. In Loudoun County, a 6-year-old boy died after a large section of a tree fell on him while he was walking with his family, authorities said. In Beltsville, Md., a tree crushed a minivan, killing a woman in her 40s and injuring a woman in her 60s, Prince George's County fire spokesman Mark Brady said.
Traffic signals were knocked out, resulting in about a dozen car crashes, Brady said. In the most severe accident, two people were transported to a hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries.
In Washington, officials said there were more than 270 reports of fallen trees or very large limbs and parts of trees that caused damage. Fire department spokesman Pete Piringer said about half a dozen homes were significantly damaged by falling limbs, and 10 boats overturned in the rivers that border the city. Three cars caught fire as a result of downed power lines.
"The dust is settling, and we're extremely busy," Piringer said.
Baltimore Gas & Electric said about 37,000 customers were without service early Monday, though a total of 112,000 lost power as a result of the storms. BGE expected the majority of customers to have power restored by Tuesday evening. Dominion Virginia Power reported that 10,700 customers were without power Monday, down from 94,000. The power company said it expected to have most of the power back on by Monday at midnight.
Power also went out at more than a dozen Metrorail stations and heavy rain flooded one station, the transit agency said. Officials said many generators were still in use early Monday.
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission said the storm also cut off power at its filtration plant that provides water for nearly 2 million people in suburban Maryland. The commission said although power had been restored Monday, mandatory restrictions on water use were still in place.
In Prince George's County, authorities say the storm damaged nearly three-dozen apartment buildings, displacing hundreds of residents.
In Washington on Sunday, wind blew off parts of Boy Scouts floats as police cars led a parade convoy away from the National Mall under darkened skies. Drenched tourists ran barefoot through puddles, struggling against the gusty winds to find shelter.
On Monday, some counties closed summer camps and other programs.
Before the storm, the area had been suffering in oppressive heat for almost two weeks with temperatures in the high 90s.
Related info :
A storm (from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz "noise, tumult") is any disturbed state of an astronomical body's atmosphere, especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather. It may be marked by strong wind, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), heavy precipitation, such as ice (ice storm), or wind transporting some substance through the atmosphere (as in a dust storm, snowstorm, hailstorm, etc).
