Power out again in a summer of wild weather
The Washington area battled unusual severe thunderstorms during both the morning and evening rush hours Thursday, leaving the region with major power outages, fallen trees and flooded roads.
The storms — with a barrage of lightning, gusty winds, torrential rain and hail — were the latest in a summer of wild Washington weather, coming behind July power outages that lasted nearly a week and violent winds that turned Alexandria into a “war zone.”
About 110,000 customers were without power at the peak of Thursday’s outage, most of them in Montgomery County, Pepco spokesman Andre Francis said. About 65,000 were still in the dark around 8 p.m.
Pepco region President Thomas Graham said most power would be restored by Friday evening, though some would have to wait until Saturday.
Dominion Virginia Power reported 7,500 powerless at the peak of the outages, though that number diminished to about 3,600 by 8 p.m. Thursday. Spokeswoman Le-Ha Anderson expected most power to be restored overnight.
The two storms wreaked havoc on Washington commutes, dumping more than two inches of rain in the morning in many areas and another inch at night.
Standing water on multiple sections of the Capital Beltway, Interstate 66 and other roadways slowed traffic during the evening rush, while all three Washington-area airports experienced delays. Metro’s Red Line single-tracked trains between Twinbrook and Grosvenor because of standing water on the tracks.
But the evening storm was tame compared with its morning predecessor, which struck around 7 a.m., downing trees and power lines and frying a transformer near Dupont Circle.
Montgomery County saw the brunt of the storm. Officials reported 150 darkened traffic lights and at least 10 blocked roads as commuters struggled to reach their workplaces.
A tree that fell onto an apartment building in Gaithersburg injured 10 people, four of whom were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, local fire officials said. The tree crushed the second and third floors of the building.
The morning storm was also blamed for an underground fire in Dupont Circle that forced workers to evacuate an office building. The smoke was so heavy that the 1800 block of Connecticut Avenue was shut down.
D.C. fire department spokesman Pete Piringer said manholes smoked in several parts of the city, and a sinkhole opened up off Kalmia Road off Beach Drive in Northwest.
Piringer also reported rescuing about a dozen drivers from vehicles stuck in standing water.
The morning storm brought mild chaos for Metro’s Red Line riders. A power outage temporarily shut down the Forest Glen station just before 8 a.m., while flooding closed the Cleveland Park station for much of the day.
Shuttle buses carried some Cleveland Park commuters to adjoining stations, but others had to walk. Kiara Williams, an AMC Loews Uptown Theatre employee, abandoned her normal route to Cleveland Park to get to work.
“We had to walk all the way from Woodley Park. It was so hot,” she said.
Metro crews spent the day pumping out water and mopping up platforms. Cleveland Park reopened around 3:30 p.m., said Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel, who said crews installed sandbags to guard against further flooding.
A fallen tree also complicated Red Line commutes. Trains for most of the morning rush period were confined to a single track between Silver Spring and Takoma.
Examiner Staff Writer Markham Heid contributed to this report.
