Anne Arundel County residents cleaning up after storms knock out power, leave damage
Downed trees, wires, and telephone poles were scattered across Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard in Glen Burnie, in Anne Arundel County, after strong storms ripped through Maryland during the holiday weekend.
The damage was caused by strong winds on Saturday that left more than 85,000 BGE customers without power. As of 5:30 p.m. on Monday, BGE said it restored more than 75,000 customers who lost power Saturday and about 19,500 who lost power during Sunday's storms.
"We're focusing on jobs right now where we can restore the most customers at once, and we're pairing that with customers who've been out for the longest period of time," said Nick Alexopulos, a spokesperson for BGE.
BGE said more than 14,000 customers are still without power as of 5:30 p.m. on Monday.
BGE reminds customers to report outages online or on the app. It is also warning neighbors to be safe around power lines. If you see some down in your neighborhood, call BGE or 911 and stay away.
Most customers who lost power on Saturday should have power restored by Tuesday according to BGE. As for customers who lost power on Sunday, they should expect the lights back on by Wednesday.
"It was really weird"
The damage along Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard in Glen Burnie spans half a mile and was reduced to one lane on Monday. Some telephone poles were even snapped in half.
"It was really weird. Nothing like this had ever happened," said Evette Jennings, who's lived in Glen Burnie for more than two decades. "All the roads were shut down, and I'm thinking it's a bad accident. When I get in the shopping center where I live, I see all the power lines down, and I'm thinking I'm in a movie."
Other neighbors in this area are dealing with tree damage in their backyards.
Renee Webb told WJZ that a tree snapped and is dangling over the power lines connected to her house.
While she never lost power, she is worried another storm could cause the top of the tree to collapse. She is now waiting on the BGE hazard list, but doesn't know when it will be repaired.
"My backyard is off limits to me, my family, and my dogs, because the tree broke," Webb said. "Don't have a time or day when we'll get back to being able to get into our yard without worrying about being electrocuted."
Others lost power for just a few hours this weekend, including the Carroll Fuel gas station on Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard. The owners said they lost power for at most seven hours, but they were forced to close their business early Saturday.
With traffic down to one lane, fewer customers are stopping to fuel up or shop in the convenience store.
"We [had] to shut down and close our business because everything [was] dark," Kousar Chaudhry said. "It's already slow. They're doing their best. Hopefully it will come [back] before Wednesday."
Light rail service suspended
The damage in Glen Burnie is also impacting the Light Rail service, which is shut down south of the Patapsco stop. Shuttles are being provided for riders instead of the service. Some bus services are also impacted in this area.
MTA says it has repair work to do on the Light Rail tracks, but won't be able to start that work until BGE is done.
