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O’Malley turns weatherman after emergency briefing
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But with no evacuations to speak of, there was little for the governor to do but cheer on the frontline workers.
“You on top of it?” O’Malley called out at the statewide highway operations center in Hanover south of the airport around noon, as a series of images from highway cameras around the state flashed on 25 monitors. “I’m here to double-check.”
O’Malley got a briefing on road conditions from the operations center, which is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The staff monitors 300 cameras on state highways around the state, including local cameras in Harford, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. There were more personnel on hand Monday as Maryland moved to emergency level 2.
O’Malley was briefed by transportation officials, state police who have a permanent presence at the center, emergency management directors and a National Guard officer. The Maryland Emergency Management Agency also increased staffing at its Joint Operations Center in Reisterstown. There are also satellite operations at State Police barracks around the state.
“We should be seeing tides some 2 to 3 feet higher from what we should anticipate,” O’Malley said, sounding like a weatherman. The Potomac and Monocacy rivers are expected to crest today, and flooding from the Susquehanna River basin in Pennsylvania could peak Wednesday.
Low-lying areas could experience tidal surges, but with winds cooperating, “we are hoping that we will not see the sort of sloshing bathtub effect” that the coastal areas experienced during Hurricane Isabel, O’Malley said.
At the moment, “we don’t plan for any evacuations,” he added.
llazarick@baltimoreexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
4:08 PM MST on Mon., Jul. 7, 2008 re: "High temperatures expected to last throughout the week"
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12:35 PM MST on Fri., Jun. 13, 2008
re: "Storm leaves thousands without power, closes several schools in Baltimore area"
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6:05 AM MST on Thu., Jun. 5, 2008
re: "Heavy rain, winds leave thousands without power"
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7:37 PM MST on Fri., Feb. 1, 2008
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4:20 AM MST on Tue., Jan. 22, 2008
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9:51 AM MST on Fri., Jan. 4, 2008
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MrHyphy said:
Time to chill on the block with a tank top yadadafeel me?
8 agree | 7 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Was the tree in the picture cut down? There is no breakage on the tree and looks like it was taken down by a chain saw.
9 agree | 9 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Let's not forget those of us that were stranded because MTA doesn't have a proper back up plan for light rail interuptions. Dozens of people waited for their chance to crowd onto a shuttle bus, maybe 3 showed up in the hour i waited. When lodging a complaint, the MTA rep. said they do not plan for these things. REALLY? you should always plan for how to get around an interuption in the line. But then again, its the MTA! BTW, what the hell does O'Malley ahve to do with the weather? Everyone seems to be all up in arms about relating him to the storm damage. It's an act of nature, or as some might say, an act of GOD lol. if so, GOD does not seem to be happy with those that are close minded lately.
12 agree | 10 disagree
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Steven Lessner said:
O'malley,busch,and miller would all be typical weatherman where they could lie to the public.Between the state liars and shelia dixon and her corrupt adminstration it's a race to see who can steal more tax dollars. Dixon's adminstration does a pretty good job of stealing since most of her people are black.Instead of giving a tax break she wants to give raises to her people while other people in the private sector are losing their jobs let's give raises and screw the people in the city. Dixon doesn't care about the city of baltimore, one of the most violent in the country.Just as O'Malley could care less about Maryland,this is not the "FREE STATE" anymore it's should be renamed the expensive state that has the most laws in the nation.
11 agree | 12 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
O'Malley would make a better weather man than he is a politician. He could lie about the weather and blame it on Bob Ehrlich and global warming.
11 agree | 11 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Had it not been for global warming there would be 40 inches of snow laying on the ground right now with many people losing thier lives!
9 agree | 9 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Was the issue with VDOT and /or the lack of the national /local reporting
150 agree | 171 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Virginia definitely doesn't know how to handle this type of weather, let alone do Virginia drivers know how to drive. Being from Indiana, it cracks me up to see places of business closing down because the weather report says there's a chance of snow. People need to slow down and remember what driver's ed taught them, it'll save lives.
157 agree | 162 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Cabin fever!!!
158 agree | 131 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
The problem is that Virginia does not know how to handle winter weather. It's not just highways. "It was a perfect storm at a perfect time..."? Gimme a break. Just own up to not having enough DOT trucks, and to not having an efficient plan when snow/ice falls. There certainly are plenty of other states that deal with snow/ice every year, yet they don't seem to have these issues. It's amazing really.
163 agree | 157 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
ok
179 agree | 186 disagree
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Tinker said:
Just think how much colder it would be if "AL" had not invented global warming!
200 agree | 173 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Actually, there was also a 7:05 ferry from Oakland to SF that I was on - what a wild ride!
227 agree | 210 disagree
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