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D.C., Maryland and Virginia are in recovery mode after severe weather walloped area trees and knocked out power for thousands across the region. Here’s what you need to know.
- Current Outages: Power outages continue for around 8,000 Pepco customers, 2,700 Dominion Energy customers and 1,400 BGE customers.
- Traffic Impact: Part of George Washington Memorial Parkway is closed through early Monday morning as crews remove trees, branches and other debris from the road.
After a multiday heat wave brought dangerously high temperatures into the area, storms packed with winds gusting above 55 mph found their way into the capital region. Those storms brought down powerlines, trees and some buildings in the area, creating a big challenge for energy service providers.
More than 200,000 Pepco customers lost power after storms finished blowing through the region on Saturday. By 9 a.m. Sunday, over 16,000 remained in the dark.
In a statement on X (formerly known as Twitter), Pepco said they expected full service to be restored by Tuesday afternoon.
@mgerhardt927 We expect service will be restored for all customers impacted by the storm by 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug.1. Many customers will have their service restored faster. Continue to check Pepco’s website and mobile app for the latest estimated restoration time for your area.
— Pepco (@PepcoConnect) July 30, 2023
Addie Kauzlarich, a spokesperson for the utility, said power restoration is continuing through the night as crews work to turn the electricity back on across the region.
“Safety is our top priority. We are in contact with local emergency management agencies and work with them to address life-threatening and safety situations,” Kauzlarich said.
Dominion Energy spokesperson Peggy Fox said the company, like many others, will not provide an estimate for power restoration just yet.
“People are working overnight to restore power, but due to the large number of damage locations from the storm, it’ll take time,” Fox said in a statement.
Richard Yost, a spokesperson for Baltimore Gas and Electric, said the utility is continuing its work through the night as well, but that power is unlikely to be restored before daybreak Sunday.
“Safety is paramount for our employees, for the mutual assistance crews and for our customers. … We are out there working as fast as we can to get everyone back as soon as possible,” Yost said.
Officials with the utilities, local governments and emergency services are also discouraging residents from making the risky decision to approach any downed powerlines across the region.
“This will not be a quick restoration. Be careful with candles and live power lines,” Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson said, later adding that “the city will be keeping Charles Houston Recreation Center open overnight as a cooling center.”
Announcement: Charles Houston Recreation Center (901 Wythe St.) is staying open overnight in light of recent power outages. Stay safe Alexandria!
— AlexandriaVAGov (@AlexandriaVAGov) July 30, 2023
Severe weather closes roads, the zoo
The storm appears to have done more than slow traffic and power down stoplights used by D.C. area drivers.
On Saturday night, WTOP Traffic reporter Dave Dildine said, in the streets near American University, there were trees, wires and light poles down everywhere. Around nearby Wesley Heights and Palisades neighborhoods, nearly every street had an obstruction.
Fallen trees shut down the northern portions of the George Washington Memorial Parkway through Sunday as trees are cleared and damage assessments are completed, according to a spokesperson with the National Parks Service.
Drivers hoping to hoop on and drive from Spout Run Parkway to the Capital Beltway will be turned away while crews are at work.
“Due to the storm that moved through the northern Virginia area on Saturday afternoon, numerous trees fell across the travel lanes of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. … There are numerous other trees downed in areas of the George Washington Memorial Parkway and the Clara Barton Parkway and the National Park Service is continuing to assess the damage and clear trees,” the agency said in a statement.
Anyone encountering downed trees along the GW Parkway can report the issue to the U.S. Park Police by calling 202-610-7500.
Sunday closures also extend to the National Zoo, as the Smithsonian works to clean up storm debris. Details on the extent of damage in and around the zoo were not shared.
Buildings damaged, persons injured
Meanwhile, first responders in the D.C. area are working to respond to the size of this severe weather’s damage.
Police in Prince William County, Virginia, said an investigation into the death of a 43-year-old man in the 15300 block of Holly Hill Drive may be connected to the bombarding storms that blew through Saturday.
According to a statement from the department, at around 5:30 p.m., officials responded after a tree was toppled by strong winds and fell on a home along that road. While officials believe this death could be related to the storm, a spokesperson was unable to confirm additional information about the victim’s death.
“The cause of death is not confirmed,” the department told WTOP.
First responders in the District said, in just under four hours, they responded to 317 storm-related calls. That’s more than half of the 600 total calls the department receives on an average summer’s day.
“We’ve been tremendously busy. Hundreds of calls, some on the water, some on land over in Trinidad. We had a tree in an apartment building that we had to evacuate,” Vito Maggiolo with D.C. Fire and EMS tells WTOP.
In Rockville, Maryland, storms brought damage to the Original Pancake House location on Rockville Pike. Pete Piringer, the spokesperson for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services, said that damage to the building appears to be the only immediate harm caused. For residents of the Bethesda Park Apartments, however, the damage had a human cost.
While no injuries were reported, Piringer said, dozens of residents have been displaced by storm-related damage and felled trees on top of local buildings.
“Throughout this particular complex, there [are] dozens of crews here working to clear trees. Many of the trees ended up on the roofs of these apartments,” Piringer said.
The storm in context
Dildine called this line of storms one of the “stronger summer storms we’ve seen” in a couple of years.
“I am seeing some significant damage in parts of Northwest D.C. Countless trees are down, manhole covers displaced and open pits disabling cars,” Dildine said. “Numerous major roads, like Foxhall Road, are blocked. People are walking around with a stunned expression around Palisades.”
Wind gusts reportedly ranged from 50 mph at Hoffman-Boston Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia, to gusts of 60 mph, according to WTOP meteorologist Chad Merrill and early storm reporting from the National Weather Service.
These storms came after a multi-day heatwave during what many climate scientists are calling one of the globe’s hottest months on record.
The heat prompted D.C. to activate a Hot Weather Emergency through Sunday, extending D.C. spray park and recreation center hours and opening cooling centers throughout the District. Additionally, D.C. Public Schools have canceled all outdoor activities through Sunday.
Other nearby jurisdictions have activated heat plans, but most expired ahead of Sunday, where high temperatures fell into the low and mid-80s, ending a stretch of serious heat for the region.
Sunday appears less likely to bring sunny skies as slightly lower humidity provides much-needed relief from last week’s triple-digit heat index.
Forecast:
SUNDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy skies. Lows: Low 60s to low 70s. Winds: North 5-15 mph.
MONDAY: Mostly sunny skies. Highs: Middle 80s. Heat Index: Low 80s. Winds: Northwest 10-20 mph
TUESDAY: Mostly sunny skies. Highs: Middle 80s. Heat Index: Low 80s. Winds: North 10 mph.
