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Baltimore Washington Medical Center floods during torrential rain
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The Baltimore Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie cleaned up the flood damage this morning after a severe storm pounded the region.
“Everything is back to fully functional,” said Allison Eatough, spokeswoman for the hospital. “If you walked through today, you'd have no idea [anything happened] other than giant blowers drying the carpets,” she said.
The hospital went into mini-disaster mode shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday when patients coming in by ambulance were re-routed to other locations, Eatough said.
Crews are following up on damage reports, and could not confirm the extent of the damage, Eatough said.
“There were some wires and trees down,” said Capt. Harry Steiner of the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, whose crew responded to a call at the hospital just before 9 p.m. Wednesday. “But nothing significant compared to other storms we've had.”
The hospital began taking patients through the ER again by around 4 a.m. Thursday, Eatough said.
National Weather Service officials today are following up on damage reports from across the area, and could not confirm the extent of the damage caused by the storm, said meteorologist Jared Klein.
“Wind damage and flooding were the main issues,” said Klein. “There are no confirmed tornadoes.”
The warm and humid air to the east of a cold front clashed with cooler air behind the cold front to cause the storm, Klein said.
The first line of storms ripped through the area around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, knocking down a tree on Harford Road near Gunpowder Falls, said Charlie Gischlar, spokesperson for the State Highway Administration.
Around 11 p.m. crews blocked two right lanes of Interstate-95 while working to pump out water and clean up debris. The interstate was closed for about an hour and a half and re-opened after midnight, said Gischlar.
The hardest hit areas included Baltimore City and Harford and Baltimore counties, which saw wind gusts as high as 50 mph, and storm-related power outages due to whole trees and tree limbs falling onto power lines as well as lightning strikes impacting electric equipment, according to Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. officials.
By midday today, BGE crews had restored service to more than 79,000 customers.
ekrupp@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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6:29 PM MST on Tue., May. 13, 2008
re: "O’Malley turns weatherman after emergency briefing"
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10:08 AM MST on Tue., May. 13, 2008
re: "O’Malley turns weatherman after emergency briefing"
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4:27 AM MST on Tue., May. 13, 2008
re: "O’Malley turns weatherman after emergency briefing"
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7:55 PM MST on Thu., Feb. 14, 2008
re: "Va. to scrutinize ice-clearing strategy after icy highways overwhelm crews"
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re: "Va. to scrutinize ice-clearing strategy after icy highways overwhelm crews"
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4:37 PM MST on Thu., Feb. 14, 2008
re: "Va. to scrutinize ice-clearing strategy after icy highways overwhelm crews"
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7:37 PM MST on Fri., Feb. 1, 2008
re: "Today's weather: More of the same"
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4:20 AM MST on Tue., Jan. 22, 2008
re: "Baltimore braces as forecasters predict prolonged cold weather"
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9:51 AM MST on Fri., Jan. 4, 2008
re: "Alameda-Oakland ferry cancels morning trips"
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MrHyphy said:
Time to chill on the block with a tank top yadadafeel me?
5 agree | 5 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.
6 agree | 7 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.
9 agree | 8 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.
9 agree | 9 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.
9 agree | 9 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!
7 agree | 7 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Was the issue with VDOT and /or the lack of the national /local reporting
147 agree | 169 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.
154 agree | 160 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Cabin fever!!!
156 agree | 129 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.
161 agree | 155 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
ok
177 agree | 184 disagree
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Tinker said:
Just think how much colder it would be if "AL" had not invented global warming!
197 agree | 171 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!
225 agree | 208 disagree
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