Powerful Winds Knock Out Power For Thousands In Baltimore, Anne Arundel County
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Gusty winds knocked out power to thousands in our area and many are waiting to be restored.
Rochelle Ritchie has more on efforts to stay on top of outages.
Thursday afternoon, about 300 people were without power. That number has now increased to more than 700 who remain in the dark.
Christmas decorations can barely hang on as wind gusts of nearly 50 miles per hour rattle street signs and wrap American flags around flag poles.
Fast-moving clouds crossed over our area bringing with it strong winds.
Starting Wednesday and well into Thursday afternoon BGE crews responded to nearly 10,000 power outages and snapped tree limbs.
"It sounds like a train. It's very loud; everything is whistling. When it comes through it's like waiting for a tornado," said resident Paulette O'Neill.
Large limbs broke under the pressure of Mother Nature. They fell on top of wires and cut power to several homes.
"It's all old trees. They come down every once in awhile. [BGE crews] were actually out there last year cutting a lot of them down," said resident Brian Morris.
Several homes lost power Thursday morning along Nottingham Road and if this wind continues, more could lose their power Thursday night.
"Majority of the outages are in Baltimore and Anne Arundel County, so we do encourage our customers to keep an eye out for down wires," said BGE spokesperson Rachel Lighty.
With crews working double-time, it is only a matter of hours before the lights are back on.
"We are keeping a close eye on the forecasts and we expect to have everyone back on by this evening but that depends on how hard we get hit by this wind," said Lighty.
Even heavy machinery fell victim to the high winds. Wires being used to hold a crane in place snapped at the Dundalk Memorial. Luckily, crews were not working at the time.
