'We feel abandoned': Some in Baltimore County told they will not have power for days after storms
MAYS CHAPEL, Md. -- Fast moving, powerful storms swept through Baltimore County sending power lines to the ground and leaving thousands without electricity.
A tree blocked Mays Chapel Road just past the Baltimore Country Club and power was still out more than 24 hours later.
Neighbors told WJZ that electricity would not be restored until Friday at 11 p.m. One resident who asked us not to identify her said she felt "abandoned" and noted many people in the community are on well water and "can't flush toilets. It's a public health hazard."
Video WJZ obtained shows a power line that caught fire and burned a hole in the asphalt in that area.
BGE said it will likely be days before some areas have power in these sweltering temperatures. They have more than 350 crew members from out of state. Some are stationed at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium.
The utility company's Cockeysville substation was damaged by the storms.
"Our crews are working to restore power as safely and quickly as possible, as we continue to assess the damage. We are operating with resources from across the organization and are identifying an estimated time of restoration for its customers," BGE said in a statement. "We anticipate the restoration process will be a multi-day event. We ask for their patience as crews work around-the-clock to restore power. Restoration times may not be available in some cases and are based on current conditions and damage."
In the Monkton area, Charlie Hodge cannot even get to his home on Piney Hill Road, which is blocked by a mangled mess of trees and downed wires.
"We've lived here for 20 years, and we've had a few blizzards. This damage is worse than any blizzard we had," Hodge said.
The northern part of the county was especially hard hit.
Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski toured the damage with the acting public works director.
"I don't think there was a state of emergency declared quite yet, but we will make sure that we do all of our all that we can with clean up, with dumpsters, with working through insurance companies," Olszewski said.
Joe Izzo is cleaning up after a tree narrowly missed his home in Monkton.
"It could have been a lot worse. It was a lot worse for other people. We're grateful," Izzo said.
No injuries were reported in Baltimore County.
