Governor O’Malley Visits Home Almost Destroyed By The Storm
Jul 26, 2010 17:01 - 1 Comment
Martha Lufkin, Mayor Marcuccio, Governor O'Malley and County Executive Leggett
“It was quite a miracle for us” explained Martha Lufkin in front of her home in College Gardens. She was sitting in the living room with her husband at about 4 PM on Sunday when he yelled, “Here it comes!” She ran straight to the back of the house and tackled her son as a large tree fell across the lawn. Amazingly, the house, power lines and car weren’t damaged. The upper branches even seemed to buffer the fall.
Council President Floreen, Martha Lufkin and County Executive Leggett
The family was using the back door until Governor Martin O’Malley came to visit this afternoon. He joined County Executive Ike Leggett, Montgomery Council President Nancy Floreen, and Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio to access the damage in Rockville from Sunday’s disastrous storm.
“The Governor reached out to us” said Mr. Leggett. They visited Mrs. Lufkin’s property because it is a reflection of the large amount of damage throughout Montgomery County. He is thankful that tragedy was avoided during this unprecedented storm.
Governor O’Malley pointed out that we are seeing three times the amount of power outages for this storm than what we saw during the snow storms last winter. He added “Luckily the temperatures have given us a bit of a break.” He’s been on the phone urging Pepco to get everyone back on line. In addition to pushing them as hard as he possibly can, he’s offered crews to help.
The number without power was down to 160,000 in Montgomery County earlier this afternoon which shows Pepco is making progress. “The key is to get as many people back up as quickly as possible” said the Governor. He promised to push them every day.
Ms. Floreen described the natural disasters in Montgomery County during the last year as a “trifecta” – snow, earthquake and now a summer storm. Looking around she emphasized that we have “the leadership to take care of it.” She also urged everyone to sign up for the Montgomery County Alert System, which was one of the things which showed our true strength. She received the warning about the storm a half hour before it arrived.
As for clean up, Mayor Marcuccio said “Crews were on the street the minute the storm hit” Trucks continue to pick up fallen debris throughout Rockville.
Tree fallen in front of the Lufkin home
As we join our elected officials to look around Rockville at the damage from yesterday’s storm, it truly is a miracle that no one was killed. As the County Executive mentioned, we try to preserve as many trees as possible and this extreme weather takes a toll on our green neighborhoods.
Rockville also has its own alert system: Alert Rockville. Be sure you are signed up!
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Is there a systematic plan in Montgomery County to over time take the power lines UNDERGROUND??? This outtage is painful. I noticed last evening that almost everything on Rockville Pike had power, but as soon as you wander off into any side streets or neighborhoods, there’s no power…..something isn’t right in the way the PEPCO, County, and/or State are planning for and managing infrastructure….seriously. As a new resident of Montgomery County and the City of Rockville, this is where tax money should be going–building a 21st century infrastrcture, not RedGate Golf Course….sorry for ranting, just frustrated because we’re still in the dark! Thank goodness I can cool off at work and re-connect!