BALTIMORE — As the temperature drops into the single digits, thousands of people are left without power. As the temperature dropped below 10 degrees, electricity was cut off for more than 57,000 BGE subscribers.
According to BGE, severe winds caused trees and tree limbs to fall, resulting in damage to electric distribution infrastructure throughout the area. The power outage affected entire neighborhoods, depriving thousands of residents of their ability to heat their houses adequately.
WJZ heard from residents of Halethorpe who said their power went off a little before noon. According to what John Najera claimed, “Some of them do not have power, and it has been out all day for them.” “Some people have just turned it back on. I just got back from Home Depot where I bought some firewood in case our power goes out because we rely on electricity for everything and need to keep warm.”
Powerful winds caused damage throughout the area, including the downing of a light post on South Chester Street in the city of Baltimore.
A piece of a building’s facade was stolen from a company in Westminster earlier in the day. Residents braced themselves for an extremely cold night as BGE workers spent the entire evening working to restore power. Najera advised the group to dress in as many layers as possible, recommending that they wear as many as two or three.
If you would like to report an outage, there are a few ways you can go about it:
- Online, at BGE.com
- BGE’s free mobile app, available at the Apple Store or Google Play
- Text message, to 69243
- Phone, by calling 877-778-2222 and using the automated system
BGE is also offering safety tips for those who encounter fallen power lines:
- You should not touch any power lines that are down, even if they don’t appear to be live or transmitting current, BGE stated. Instead, call BGE at 877-778-2222 to report the downed line.
- If a line falls across your vehicle while you’re driving, you should stay inside the vehicle and continue to drive away from the line. If the engine stalls, do not exit your vehicle. Stay put, call emergency services, and warn others not to touch your car, or the wire.
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