Storm hits Washington DC area, thousands without power

Reuters ^ | June 29, 2012

[Oldeconomybuyer]

(Reuters) - A powerful storm hit the U.S. capital on Friday, downing trees with wind gusts of up to 79 miles per hour, topping hurricane force levels and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes in the Washington area.

Bands of rain lashed the city and winds toppled power lines and littered the streets with tree limbs as the fast-moving storm, which started in the Midwest after a day of severe heat, reached Washington and its suburbs late in the evening.

WTOP radio said more than 800,000 people in the Washington area were without power.

The Washington Post said it had reports of winds gusting up to 79 miles per hour in Reston, Virginia.

There were power outages in several Washington Metro stations, the Post said, after a day of extreme heat across the southern and eastern United States.

A flash flood warning was issued in Fredrick County, Maryland, until 1:15 a.m. on Saturday, and severe storm warnings were issued in areas between Washington and the Chesapeake Bay to the east.

WUSA television in Washington said "thousands of trees" and tree branches were likely downed by the storm.

[hattend]

I hope they are not late printing the welfare checks. Riots would most certainly ensue.

No such thing as a welfare check anymore. They have EBT cards that are auto-refilled on welfare day.

No riots now, as planned.

Now, if the EBT cards can't be electronically read at the liquor store...watch out!

[hattend]

His Katrina IS in Colorado.

Somebody finally told him he had better get out there...

[hattend]

Actually a capital is the seat of governance (state and fed). Capitol is a building in DC

[robowombat]

In September 2003 a mild tropical storm went up the Bay. Getting power restored in suburban Maryland and Va was a monumental problem and that was a much less destructive storm. This is going to be a really unpleasant experience for much of the Seat of Government as the temperatures are going to be a lot higher than in 2003. If there is a prolonged power outage in the eastern half of DC the natives will get restless. Thy normally sit out side their public housing sweathouses at night in the summer to reduce utility bills but keep the ac cranked up during the day. No ac is going to mean a lot of very angry Amish and they are likely to start roaming around looking for reparations.

[richardtavor]

I disagree with you.

[crosshairs]

IMO God is showing his wrath.

On the whole country and its only going to get worse. Fires in Colorado and New Mexico, heat and drought throughout the country, flooding in Florida, the D.C. situation, and more to come.

[hattend]

Sorry you disagree...I’m still right

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/capitol

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/capital?s=t

[HollyB]

You are soo lucky I’m still out. It’s been a long day.

[CJinVA]

We’re on a different circuit than our neighbors. All the houses across the street from us are still without power. We are lucky.

We went over to Kent Island Md today. All along the way we saw power outages. Saw a number of car out of gas on the side of he road. Traffic lights out all over the place. Lot of trees down.