UPDATE: BGE Making Progress in Restoring Power

UPDATE (5:30 p.m.)—Many people in Anne Arundel County went to sleep Saturday night hoping that they'd wake up with power. For some, that actually happened but there are still nearly 60,000 county residents without power on Sunday.

On Saturday night, Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) still showed more than 93,000 outages in Anne Arundel County on the online outage map. On Sunday afternoon, the map showed 58,655 outages—with more than 70,000 customers' power restored since the start of the restoration effort on Friday.

Anne Arundel County opened on Friday and added after the storm. The school, located at 2700 Riva Rd., will stay open as a cooling center from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Sunday. The four police district community rooms are also available as cooling centers 24/7.

In addition, the two county swim centers—located at 2690 Riva Rd. in Annapolis and 7888 Crain Highway in Glen Burnie—will be open again for those seeking a shower from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Anne Arundel County Public Library branches are closed on Sunday following their regular schedule.

Gov. Martin O'Malley in Maryland on Saturday. Patch reported that action gives the state flexibility to activate the Maryland National Guard and provide assistance to local emergency managers, if necessary. 

According to a press release from BGE, more than 2,000 utility workers are either actively working to restore power or are on their way to central Maryland. The effort to restore power is expected to continue throughout the upcoming week.

"BGE’s balanced approach to restoring electric service prioritizes outages affecting public safety and critical infrastructure in all parts of its service area, however, the backbone of the utility’s electric distribution system, its 33 kilovolt (kV) power lines, which supply power to substations, sustained significant damage," said Jeannette M. Mills, vice president and chief customer officer for BGE, in a press release. "Those lines must be repaired or replaced before any of the equipment downstream can be repaired. As a result, outage durations have been extended for some customers.

"Given the scope and magnitude of the damage we’re seeing thus far, we fully anticipate restoration activities to extend deep into this week.”

BGE encourages customers to report outages and downed wires by calling 877-778-2222 but said customers should only report their outage once.

Traffic Signals
The Maryland Emergency Management Agency reminds drivers that when traffic lights are out, treat them as a four-way stop.

Limit Unnecessary Water Usage
The county's water is safe to drink, according to the Department of Public Works. Residents in the north and west sections of Anne Arundel County and the city of Annapolis are being asked to limit water usage until July 2 due to a loss of power at water treatment facilities. This request is to ensure there is adequate water pressure for firefighters or other emergency operations.

Assistance for Pets
The county announced that Animal Control will be open as a cooling center for pets from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, but animals have to be in a crate. If the owners don't have one, the animal must be on a leash and Animal Control will find a crate for them. 

Animal Control will provide water, but owners are asked to bring their own bowl, food and anything else they might need for the animal. Owners must also stay with their pets.

In addition, PetSmart is offering their stores as pet cooling stations.

2601 Housley Rd., Annapolis
Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday through Saturday
Water for pets available, restrooms available
Pets must be on a leash
Contact: Terri Lee at 410-571-8646

Glen Burnie PetSmart
24 Mountain Rd., Glen Burnie
Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday through Saturday
Water for pets available, restrooms available
Pets must be on a leash
Contact: Jennifer Sexton, 410-766-6190

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