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Winds Cancel Flights, Classes
Downed phone lines, in foreground, stopped traffic at River and Burdette roads near the Capital Beltway. Winds made utility crews' jobs difficult: "We'll restore one area, and then another area goes out," Pepco's Debbi Jarvis said.
(By Gerald Martineau -- The Washington Post)
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As of yesterday evening, Dominion Virginia Power reported that about 23,000 customers remained without power. About 9,400 were without power in Montgomery, about 15,000 in Prince George's County and about 11,900 in Anne Arundel County, utilities reported.
In the District, about 3,300 residents were without power, Pepco reported.
"Our crews are working to restore power, but the high winds are making that difficult," Pepco spokeswoman Debbi Jarvis said. "We'll restore one area, and then another area goes out."
At 5 p.m. yesterday, there were 9,000 customers without power in Southern Maryland, according to the Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, which serves Charles, St. Mary's and Calvert counties and a portion of Prince George's.
The gusts were so powerful that Virginia Department of Transportation crews had to untwist traffic lights at some intersections, where the wind had spun the signals to face the wrong direction, VDOT spokesman Ryan Hall said. There were also widespread reports of downed tree limbs blocking roads.
At Dulles International Airport, 45 mph gusts limited air traffic to one runway, canceling some flights and creating delays of more than three hours on average. Things were running more smoothly at BWI and National, where conditions weren't as severe, the Federal Aviation Administration reported.
A high-wind warning from the National Weather Service extends today from the Shenandoah Valley to the Baltimore area and east into West Virginia.
"It's been a one-two punch," said Peloquin, who attributed the high winds to the extreme low-pressure system in the Northeast and a high-pressure system over the Midwest. The Washington region sits in the middle of the two pressure systems, he said.
"You get heavy rain and flooding, then you get strong, gusty winds, and that's the stage we're at now."
Staff writer Maria Glod contributed to this report.
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