Major Storm Causes Damage, Power Outages
Eric Villard
July 27, 2009

Power outages in and around Carroll County as of 10:30 a.m. Monday

Sunday evening’s storms brought heavy rains and intense wind to the Carroll County area, causing power outages throughout the county and damaging some property.

According to a Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) press release the hardest hit areas from the storm were Carroll, Baltimore and Harford counties. BGE hopes to have power restored by this evening or early Tuesday morning.

“BGE crews have been working around-the-clock to restore service to customers throughout our service area and will continue working throughout today and into tomorrow morning to ensure all customers are restored as quickly and as safely as possible,” said Stephen J. Woerner, senior vice president of gas and electric operations and planning, BGE.

While it has not been confirmed residents reported a possible tornado in the area last night that caused the damage. Twitter user RevRagnarok of Eldersburg commented on the clean up after the fact.

“It is *WAY* too hot and humid to be raking debris!” he wrote, adding that the elderly could really use help in their property clean up.

Isolated and scattered thunderstorms are in the forecast for later this week, and BGE warned that new outages might occur during these storms. “We will continue to monitor approaching weather, particularly in the afternoon timeframes,” said Woerner.

The hardest hit area in Carroll County was in the south, though neighboring Baltimore County took the brunt of the storm. As of last night Carroll and Harford counties were each reporting more than 2,000 outages while Baltimore County reported about 20,000.

BGE recommends a storm kit be prepared in order to stay safe in case of a power outage. According to BGE, the following should be included:

• Flashlights - not candles
• Fresh batteries
• Battery-operated clock radio
• Corded telephone
• Fully charged cell phone
• Non-perishable food
• Blankets

Visit the BGE Web site for a continually updated map of power outages in Carroll County.

The damage hits home Beard said approximately 30 houses sustained damaged from felled trees. Some cars were also damage falling arbor. One of the more harrowing stories of damage comes from a news release by the fire department that reported a van with people inside crushed by a large tree at the intersection of Liberty Lake Way and Marriotsville Rd. in Eldersburg. Beard said the driver pulled over in order to wait out the storm when a tree came crashing down on the car, trapping two children inside.

Units from various fires companies, including the Gamber and Community Fire Company, responded to the situation. The two children were rescued from the vehicle and sent via ambulance to the Johns Hopkins Hospital Pediatric Emergency Room. Photos of damage are courtesy of the Sykesville Freedom Fire Department – please visit their Web site for additional information.

Links:

BGE Web site: http://www.bge.com/portal/site/bge/

Up-to-date map of outages in Carroll:
http://www.bge.com/vcmfiles/BGE/OutageMaps/BGEmapviewer/
source/CarrollCounty.html

WJZ article and video of damage: http://wjz.com/local/thunderstorm.watch.2.1101755.html

Sykesville Freedom Fire Department Web site: http://www.sykesvillefire.org/index.cfm?fs=public.home