Gusty Winds Knock Out Power

"We don't have heat. The temperature is dropping about three degrees an hour," said Byard, who added that the two schools began the day with indoor temperatures of 60 to 65 degrees. He said later that temperatures did not go below about 58 degrees in the schools.

The high winds also complicated efforts by firefighters to extinguish a fire about 8:45 a.m. yesterday at an apartment complex in Prince George's. Officials said about 100 residents were displaced by the three-alarm fire that swept through the building in the 11100 block of Cherry Hill Road. Damage was estimated at $1.5 million.

Pete Piringer, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service spokesman, said that the department continued to respond yesterday to reports of downed trees and road debris but that there were no reports of serious injuries.

In the Loudoun town of Hillsboro, wind uprooted a large tree shortly before 4 p.m. Sunday. As it crashed down, it tore power lines and smashed the hood of a BMW traveling west on Route 9, police said. The Fairfax couple in the car were treated for minor injuries at the scene, Virginia State Trooper L.K. Armstrong said.

"It was huge," Armstrong said of the tree. ". . . I couldn't believe it."

Ed Cutshall, 54, said he rushed from his jewelry store and helped the driver out of the car. "They were both pretty much unhurt -- just wide-eyed and shaken," he said. "Wind gusts came along, took a 100-year-old tree, ripped it out of the ground and put it all over the road."

Staff writers Michael E. Ruane and Martin Weil contributed to this report.