Residents in the Essex Middle River areas of east Baltimore County were shocked when the east coast of the United States experienced the most severe earthquake ever recorded in this region. Shortly thereafter Hurricane Irene hit the area, but not with a direct hit. High winds, however, caused extensive damage – especially due to downed trees which caused the loss of electrical power to hundreds of thousands of residents.
BGE had made robocalls to customers prior to the storm, commenting how they were prepared for the storm and that additional assistant from out-of-state repair crews had been recruited to assist with the storm's expected massive aftermath. Those extra crews were extremely helpful. Within several days thousands of power outages had been restored, but unfortunately thousands more remained out.
Crews worked long and hard to remove trees from roadways and off power lines. Residents in many neighborhoods worried about rotting food in refrigerators and freezers as power outages continued for more than the predicted 72-hour window. The extensive ongoing outages were also responsible for the delay of Baltimore County Schools opening day. And the longest outages continued to keep more than a dozen schools closed for even longer.
When the announcement came on Sunday, September 4 that all power was restored, there was a major sigh of relief. Parents cheered when it was announced that finally all schools would open on Tuesday.
Baltimore County residents were eager to have their lives return to normal!
Then... along came Tropical Storm Lee. Much like the 2003 visit of Tropical Storm Isabel, Lee brought extremely high tides and torrential downpours. Rains quickly flooded roadways and once again knocked out power. In some cases, trees weakened by Irene toppled creating another 20,000 – 35,000 power outages in the area. And, once again crews were busy removing fallen trees from roadways and power lines.
Storm-weary crews were exhausted and frustrated, as were the residents. Storm damage clean-up will be ongoing for several weeks. Neighborhoods have been piling up wood for residents with fire places. Crews are traveling the neighborhoods with chippers to remove tree limbs and twigs. Mulch will be in great supply for fall gardners.
Residents are reminded that yard waste can be taken to the three county landfills for recycling. Some local career fire stations also still have dumpsters collecting small yard wastes. Call ahead to verify the dumpsters are still on site and are not full. No overflow will be permitted.
While local areas reeling from Irene and Lee, more thunderstorms are in the forecast!
Local environmentalists are hoping next weekend's weather will be clear to enable heavy duty clean-up of local waterways. Many local environmental organizations are also planning clean-ups on September 24. Everyone is invited to help. It will be a big job removing all the debris and repairing damage left behind this months storms as prayers are offered that no other hurricanes come our way!
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