Maryland and BGE officials continued to scramble Sunday to restore power to nearly 290,000 customers as the area suffered with temperatures near 100 degrees for a third day.
In the early afternoon, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake passed out ice to wilting city residents. Local governments encouraged people without power to visit their cooling centers. And Gov. Martin O'Malley, who declared a state of emergency, took to national airwaves to warn of the hot days ahead.
"This will challenge us. This will challenge the neighbors of Maryland to act like Marylanders," O'Malley told CNN Sunday morning. "We'll do our best."
As of 3:21 p.m., power had been restored to about 313,000 residents, but more than 280,000 remained powerless.
Baltimore County had 78,000 BGE customers without power. Baltimore City had 75,000. Anne Arundel had 59,000 and Howard County had 27,000. North Baltimore neighborhoods had the highest concentration of power outages, according to BGE.
Baltimore County announced that 42 schools that offer summer programming would remain closed Monday. Education officials say many schools, administrative offices, grounds, and paved parking and walking areas were affected by fallen trees and other debris.
Kevin Whitt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sterling, Va., said more thunderstorms could be on the way. The agency was monitoring a front in Chicago, but was more concerned about potential activity in West Virginia and Ohio -- where hot and humid weather seemed ripe for a storm.
"The threat is there," he said. "If we see storms developing in central Ohio that could be a cause for concern."
State Highway Administration crews and signal technicians continued to reactivate signal systems and clear debris as utility companies remove downed lines and restored power. SHA has 14 roads closed due to storm impacts, down from 184 at the height of the storm. Along state roads, there are more than 160 inoperable signals due to power outages, down from more than 250, agency said.
"There are still signals without power that are inoperable, so treating intersections as a four-way stop is still the best practice," said SHA Administrator Melinda B. Peters in a statement.
Baltimore police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said officers had focused patrols on powerless business to prevent looting.
The temperature hit 101 degrees Sunday afternoon in Baltimore and forecasters predicted readings of around 100 throughout the week. Because of the anticipated high temperatures, Baltimore health commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot extended current Code Red Heat Alert through Tuesday, meaning emergency cooling centers will stay open longer.
Officials also warned residents to avoid using power generators inside of homes, garages, basements, or any enclosed area. Prince George's County fire officials say residents of two homes were sickened by fumes caused by generators and a fire was started in a third home by improper use of a generator.
Friday night's deadly storms, fueled by extreme heat and humidity, initially left more than 600,000 homes and business without power, and BGE warned it could take several days to restore service. The severity of the storms -- which are blamed for at least two deaths in Maryland and 10 others around the region -- caught state authorities off guard, and officials sought help from Southern states to restore power.
O'Malley, a two-term Democrat, said he took a call from President Barack Obama, who was at Camp David, to make sure Maryland was receiving the federal assistance needed.
O'Malley and his counterparts in Washington, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia declared statewide emergencies because of the damage, which stretched 500 miles. About 3.9 million homes and businesses around the region lost power.
Officials reported they had restored power to a water pumping station in Pikesville that left residents of Northwest Baltimore and Baltimore County without water Saturday. Baltimore Public Works Director Alfred H. Foxx urged residents of Park Heights, Owings Mills, Randallstown and Pikesville to conserve water even after power had been restored to the Pikesville pumping stations. He said the tanks needed time to refill.
Meanwhile, three Baltimore City fire companies that had been slated to permanently close Sunday will remain open for four more days due to the weather, said department spokesman Chief Kevin Cartwright. Fire officials have decided to keep the three companies open until Thursday morning to help clean up from the storm and aid those suffering from heat-related health problems, he said.
Firefighters have been helping with downed wires and caring for people afflicted with heat exhaustion or heat stroke -- particularly elderly and home-bound people who have lost power, Cartwright said.
Three companies -- East Baltimore's Truck 15, West Baltimore's Truck 10 and Southeast Baltimore's Engine 11 -- had been set to close Sunday morning as a cost-cutting measure.
The closures have been postponed until 7 a.m. Thursday, Cartwright said.
Baltimore firefighters union president Rick Hoffman said the decision to keep the trucks open was an admission that they are needed.
"The fire department is nothing short of an insurance company," Hoffman said. "You cannot predict when things are going to happen."
Kevin Alan Obrien, 25, of Edgewater was pronounced dead about 11:25 p.m. after a tree fell on his 2009 Ford Escape while he was traveling east in the 400 block of Harwood Road, Anne Arundel County police said. Obrien's two passengers were taken to Anne Arundel Medical Center with minor injuries.
A second death was reported in Montgomery County, where a 71-year-old Silver Spring woman's body was found by fire personnel who were responding to a downed tree on Grant Avenue, according to Montgomery County Police. A large maple tree fell and crashed through the roof sometime overnight, police said.
And one more was feared dead after the Coast Guard called off a day-long search for a 28-year-old man after a boat capsized early Saturday about 15 nautical miles south of Annapolis, near Breezy Point. Four people were rescued about 3:30 a.m., including two who were saved by a crew member on a fishing boat and two found by the Coast Guard. On Sunday at 11:45 a.m., the Coast Guard suspended the search for the missing 28-year-old. The Coast Guard searched a total of 145 square nautical miles over approximately 19 hours for the man
Frances B. Phillips, deputy secretary for the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said because of the extreme heat, residents should look out for one another and take precautions to stay healthy, such as drinking plenty of water.
The high temperature Sunday is expected to be 98 degrees, with a possibility of thunderstorms. Temperatures are expected in the 90s for most of the week. Baltimore city's health department said Sunday afternoon that it has extended the Code Red Heat Alert through Tuesday, meaning cooling centers will be open and distributing water.
Those without medical emergencies should go to public places, such as cooling centers, rather than emergency rooms, Phillips said. Cooling centers were opened Saturday across Maryland, including 15 in the city. The city also began to distribute ice Saturday night at four sites.
State utilities called in crews from Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee and other Southern states to help repair the downed power lines, said Rob Gould, spokesman for Baltimore Gas and Electric.
"This is going to be a very extended restoration," extending late into the coming week, Gould said. "What we're really finding is damage that is the magnitude of a hurricane."
By comparison, 740,000 people were without power because of damage caused by Hurricane Irene last year.
The damage from the storm included two collapsed buildings in Baltimore and a police cruiser that was crushed under a tree limb.
About 11:45 p.m., a tree fell on a police vehicle in the 4600 block of Charles St. The female officer was taken to a nearby medical center and is in good condition, police said. A second officer was struck in the arm and also taken for treatment.
Sgt. Anthony Smith said a three-story building at 1901 E. 31st St., the site of a construction zone, collapsed, as well as a three-story vacant building at 1934 Wilkens Ave. Smith said the areas are closed to pedestrian traffic; no injuries were reported.
Baltimore Sun reporters Childs Walker, Scott Calvert, Andy Rosen, Susan Reimer, Julie Scharper and Jessica Anderson and the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this article.
Copyright 2012 - The Baltimore Sun
