Severe thunderstorms hit the Baltimore area on Saturday evening, uprooting trees onto more than 200 streets and prompting the city to open three additional centers for over 20,000 impacted by power outages, according to an update from Mayor Brandon Scott’s office.
Just after 11:30 a.m. Sunday, the city’s update said various city agency crews, plus those from the City of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, were responding to hundreds of 311 service requests — including more than 200 fallen trees and more than 80 traffic light disruptions.
“Crews worked through the night and are continuing to work removing debris,” the update reads. “Since we are prioritizing clearing roads, crews may leave behind tree debris once roadways are clear. We will go back to clear the remainder of debris next week.”
Traffic Enforcement Officers and Baltimore Police Department officers have been deployed to “critical intersections” disrupted by signal outages, according to the release.
Social media posts from reporters at WMAR and WBAL showed large trees and debris completely blocking roadways in Hampden, Roland Park and other North Baltimore neighborhoods. The storm prompted the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts to cancel Artscape’s Saturday headline act, percussionist and drummer Sheila E., after another storm on Friday prompted the cancellation of that day’s headline performance from Chaka Khan.
The storms knocked out power for 43,801 BGE customers across central Maryland, the company said in an email just after 9 p.m. Saturday. The hardest-hit areas were Baltimore City and County, but there is damage throughout the region. Crews had restored power for about 7,000 customers as of 9 p.m.
“Widespread storm damage includes tree debris, downed trees and wires,” the email said. “BGE crews and contractors are working to restore power for customers as quickly and safely as possible.”
In Baltimore, BGE reported 604 outages impacting 20,134 customers as of 11:03 a.m., according to the update from Scott’s office. The company expects to restore service to 80% of customers by 11 p.m. Sunday, and the majority of customers will be restored by 11 p.m. Monday, according to BGE’s website.
Scott’s office also extended a Code Red extreme heat alert through Monday, leaving cooling centers open for people who need them or are without power. Three additional cooling centers will be open for charging and water distribution in areas hit the hardest by power outages, the update says. These sites, open 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday include:
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C. C. Jackson Recreation Center, 4910 Park Heights Ave.
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Rita Church Community Center, 2101 St. Lo Drive.
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Cahill Recreation Center, 4001 Clifton Ave.
Showers and a potential thunderstorm are likely after 2 p.m. Sunday with a 60% chance of precipitation all day. A National Weather Service hazardous weather outlook report issued early Sunday morning said there was a possibility for an “isolated instance of damaging wind gusts or flooding” in the afternoon, mainly in the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay, I-95 corridor through central Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Source Agencies
