Monday, September 5, 2011
As damage assessments roll in, officials say it could have been worse.
Hurricane Irene, President Obama said in the days preceding the storm, was shaping up to be a "historic hurricane." And it was, in some ways. To anyone with a flood-damaged home in Vermont, or stuck on the wrong side of an impassable bridge in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, it's historic. Officials up and down the Eastern Seaboard are still conducting preliminary damage assessments. In the D.C. region, damage was less-than-historic. After a long day of rain and gusty winds, Irene left thousands without power and hundreds of downed trees, but the capital and the surrounding areas were spared both the dangerous storm surges pushed ahead of the hurricane and the stronger winds on the eastern side of Irene. "What happened was that we were …
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
The Bethesda location was one of three stops on Brown's tour after Hurricane Irene.
Pepco officials detailed their power restoration efforts in the wake of Hurricane Irene as Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown visited the Pepco Control Center in Bethesda Tuesday. Brown's visit was part of a planned multi-city tour that included Odenton and Greenbelt. Brown met with Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, Pepco President Thomas Graham, Maryland Emergency Management Administration representative Mark Demski and dozens of other Pepco officials and employees. Hurricane Irene left approximately 220,000 Pepco customers without power in Maryland and Washington, D.C., including more than 100,000 in Prince George’s County alone. As of Tuesday afternoon, Pepco has been able to restore power to close to 210,000 customers. “I feel very…
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley said dialysis centers were a priority for power companies.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
A photo gallery from Patches along the Atlantic Coast
About 66,000 lack power as hurricane heads for New York.
Update, 8:45 p.m.: Montgomery County schools that have power will open on time Monday, MCPS said. There are 22 schools that remain without power and MCPS will monitor those schools overnight and make a final decision by 6 a.m. about the opening of those schools. Each school community without power will receive an automated telephone call updating them about the power restoration efforts, MCPS said. The schools without power include: Update, 3:30 p.m.: Montgomery County Public Schools staff is assessing the damage done by Hurricane Irene and will make an announcement this evening regarding school operations tomorrow, MCPS said in a press release. Numerous schools remain without power and MCPS is working with Pepco to get those school back…
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Sunday, August 28, 2011
Ocean City braces for pounding hurricane.
Undetermined amounts of diluted sewage released.
Update, 5:47 a.m.: An undetermined amount of diluted sewage is overflowing the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission's Western Treatment Plant because of overnight power outages, the WSSC said Sunday morning. Generators are providing some power to the plant, at 6600 Crain Highway in Upper Marlboro, but it is not fully operational, the WSSC said. The WSSC provides drinking water and treats wastewater for Montgomery and Prince George's counties. In a release, WSSC said the Broad Creek Wastewater Pumping Station at 10315 Livingston Road in Fort Washington continues to fully operate on generators after losing power about 10 p.m. Saturday. The pumping station continues to overflow as a result of the excessive rain. It is unclear at this …
Saturday, August 27, 2011
More than 40 state agencies are ready to respond and BGE and Pepco have crews ready to address power outages.
Gov. Martin O’Malley cautioned Maryland residents to still take precautions as Hurricane Irene moved across the state Saturday, saying the worst of the storm has yet to arrive. “In layman’s terms, we’re starting to feel the first lashes of the storm,” O’Malley said. More than 36,000 residents were without power as of 5:30 p.m., mostly in Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties, he said. The hurricane conditions will be confined mostly to the Eastern Shore, but local areas can still expect 6 to 8 inches of rain, said Howard Silverman of the National Weather Service. The next six to eight hours are expected to bring the worst of the storm and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) will be fully activated until at least Sunday …
Report outages to Pepco via phone, website or smartphone apps.
If Irene leaves you in the dark, you can report the outage to Pepco via phone, website, and even a smart phone app. The utility is warning customers of the possibility of multi-day outages due to Hurricane Irene, and is urging residents to be prepared. Pepco says they are ready for the storm– they’ve organized more than 1,000 field personnel including crews from as far away as Texas and Louisiana, according to a statement. “Restoring power in the wake of Hurricane Irene will be an all hands event for Pepco,” said Pepco Region president Thomas Graham, in a statement. “Our first task will be to assess the damage so we can restore power as effectively and safely as possible. Once the expected tropical force winds have subsided, utility crews …
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Mary Schmidt
12:18 pm on Wednesday, August 31, 2011
However I found that Pepco's response stank, as usual. You could not get a straight answer on the phone, their recorded responses were contradictory. That robocall Friday should never have been made by any functioning utility. Utter chaos, as usual. And I bet Tom Graham can't wait to get back on TV and spread more bovine manure. more ›