Falling ice causes havoc in D.C.

Falling ice appears to have struck its first victim in the District. According to the DC Fire and Emergency Services Department, a 32 year-old man was struck by a 45 square-foot piece of ice outside a business near the intersection of 14th Street and Rhode Island Avenue, Northwest just after ten a.m. Friday.

The man was taken to George Washington University Hospital for treatment of a head wound, reports ABC-7 News, quoting DC Fire Department spokesman Alan Etter.

As weather worsened, area schools remain closed for the third consecutive day today. Local school systems for D.C., Virginia and Maryland announced closings on their websites late yesterday evening.

In a warning to all commuters, Maryland State police sent out an alert this morning urging motorists to make sure their vehicles are clear of ice and snow before hitting the roads. State police say snow flying off vehicles has struck other vehicles causing damage. They are also reminding motorists they are liable if snow or ice from their vehicles damages other vehicles.

Meanwhile, local traffic woes continue. A Gaithersburg man has been charged with second-degree murder following an early morning multi-vehicle traffic collision in the District. A spokesman for the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department says 42-year-old Kadri Atalay was driving a Mercedes Benz SUV that struck several cars in the 3,200 block of Wisconsin Avenue, Northwest just before two a.m. Friday morning.

Sergeant Joe Gentile says the SUV was traveling south when it crossed the median and struck a Chrysler Sebring killing its 29-year-old driver. Gentile says the identity of the dead man has not been released, pending notification of his family.

The collision remains under investigation, but Gentile says at this time speed and alcohol appear to be contributing factors.

Atalay has been treated for minor injuries, and remains in police custody. MPD’s Major Crash Unit has closed Wisconsin Avenue near the National Cathedral to complete their investigation.

Meanwhile, many area residents are still coping with power being knocked off their homes for the last couple of days. Baltimore Gas & Electric officials said it could be late Friday before power is restored to everyone who’s been knocked offline by this week’s winter storm. The worst outages persisted into early Friday in Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties, with 22,000 in Arundel without power and 7,700 in Prince George’s.

At the height of the outages, more than 137,000 customers served by all the region’s utilities had no power.

“We areworking as fast as we can to get them back,” Pepco spokesman Robert Dobkin said Thursday. “We expect to have virtually everyone back by tonight, but there is certainly a possibility that some individual customers could be without power through the overnight.

Around noon Thursday, 9,056 Pepco customers were without power, down from almost 22,000 Wednesday afternoon. Baltimore Gas & Electric Co., which also services the county, had 11,307 customers without power. At 5 p.m. Wednesday, there were 16,833 BGE customers in the dark.

“Our crews have been working around the clock to restore service,” BGE spokeswoman Linda Foy said.

The county on Wednesday opened warming centers at seven fire stations for people without power Wednesday.

Here’s a list of school closings in your area:

In Virginia

Arlington County Public Schools

Fairfax County Public Schools

Falls Church City Public Schools

Fauquier County Public Schools

Frederick County Public Schools

Fredericksburg City Public Schools

Loudoun County Public Schools

Manassas City Public Schools