'It Was Just Shockingly Cold'

She was trying to get by on cups of hot coffee and tea. "I don't know how many I've had," she said, standing in a Starbucks, a steaming cup of coffee in her hands.

Dressed in a thick black coat and red gloves, Turner said she returned from a trip to California late Sunday to weather that was more than 30 degrees colder. "I've lived here 30 years," she said. "But this is just unbelievably cold."

As public officials took steps to protect the homeless and to warn residents of danger, police said the cold had claimed at least one victim.

Annie Mae Anderson, an 81-year-old Silver Spring resident, was found dead in a ravine near her home. Anderson, who police said suffered from occasional dementia, apparently wandered away from the house she shared with her brother in the 600 block of Symphony Woods Drive sometime during the weekend. Police began searching for her Sunday night.

"She did not survive the exposure to the very cold weather," said Lucille Baur, a spokeswoman for Montgomery County police. About 11:15 a.m. yesterday, a canine team found Anderson's body down a steep hill in a wooded area behind several homes on Symphony Woods Drive.

Anderson was not wearing heavy winter clothing when she was found. "She was not prepared to be out in the cold," said Lt. Eric Burnett, a county police spokesman.

In Fairfax County, at least 800 people were forced from apartments in a high-rise building yesterday after a transformer failed. Those without other housing were sheltered at a local recreation center last night.

Fire officials were not sure if weather contributed to the blaze at River Towers, in the 3800 block of Cameron Run Terrace. The transformer erupted about 9 a.m., Fairfax fire spokesman Dan Schmidt said, sending smoke into the 16-story building. The fire was quickly extinguished.

The cold strained antiquated heating systems in several District schools. Students at H.D. Woodson Senior High School in Northeast were let out at 11:30 a.m. after a frozen water pipe burst, said system spokesman John C. White. The school will reopen this morning.

Parts of Drew Elementary School in Northeast, Beers Elementary School in Southeast and Watkins Elementary School in Southeast also were without heat, White said. They remain open.

Numerous reports were received in the District of frozen pipes in houses, authorities said. Water, apparently from a broken main, bubbled for hours last night from a manhole on at Second and D Streets SE Capitol Hill, witnesses said.

Meanwhile, the city's Office of Community Relations and Services has sent teams in each ward to knock on doors in search of residents who might not have heat.