Subscribe free!Sunday Storm Rips Through Rockville (UPDATE)
Jul 25, 2010 17:04 - 11 Comments
A very powerful storm plowed through Rockville about 3:30 Sunday afternoon, accompanied by brief, torrential rains, high winds, lightning, and a tornado warning for Montgomery County.
While brief, the storm caused damage throughout Rockville, from Lincoln Park to the West End. Power was out for much of Rockville. Downed trees and limbs crushed fences, blocked roads and, in at least one case, crushed a vehicle.
[UPDATE:] MD-28 was blocked in both directions at Thomas Street by a tree that fell completely across this main thoroughfare into Town Center:
[UPDATE:] The City of Rockville reported that it lost power. “The powerful line of storms also knocked out power to the Rockville Swim and Fitness Center,” according to a City press release, “and to traffic signals along Routes 28 and 355 and elsewhere in the city. In addition to the power outages, the severe storms downed numerous trees throughout the city.”
This tree, at the intersection of N. Van Buren St. and W. Montgomery, fell forward into the street and crushed a vehicle:
In Lincoln Park, Rockville Central reader Cheryl Kagan called to report a downed tree that had brought down power lines and caused a great deal of damage.
While the effect of the storm was to cool temperatures slightly, authorities said that a heat warning remained in effect until 8pm. Monday’s highs are expected to be in the 80′s, and less humidity is expected.
As an aside, when I called Pepco to report my home’s power outage, the recording that acknowledged the report told me they expect power to be restored by September 10, at 1pm. Here’s hoping it doesn’t take that long. (In fact, I am told the message is due to a backup in the computer system. As crews assess damage we should get a better picture.)
If you had damage from the storm, please let us know in the comments.
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I was in Rockville when the storm hit and snapped this pic minutes after it happened. At W. Montgomery Ave and N. Van Buren St. http://twitpic.com/28nft5 & http://twitpic.com/28ne97. He walked away without injuries… but pretty shook up from it. (I think it’s from same incident as your 3rd picture in this post)
We lost power in the Rose Hill area 2-3 minutes before the storm hit. I knew then that it was going to be a long night. I found the Safeway and Don Pollo on Viers Mill Rd open. It was a warm night, but we made it. Power was restored this morning at 6:45 AM. The food and soda were still cold in the refrigerator.
Kudos to the City and County police officers who did a masterful job at redirecting traffic around blocked roads and navigating tie-ups due to the lack of traffic signals. I was also pleasantly surprised by drivers’ courtesy and patience, yielding to each other and making the best of a challenging situation.
The Rockville Police Officier who was directing traffic at Beall and Hungerford in front of the fire house deserves extra praise. The wires down in that area around 6PM were really dangerous, blocking 2 lanes northbound. He managed to keep the the cars moving smoothly and was still there when I returned after 7. Good job!
Well I wish we had the same fortune as Mr. Westerman. We are in East Rockville, and we still don’t have power. I’m posting after my work at the office. This is a frustrating experience, to say the least…..it seems that about the entire neighborhood is out from the Metro Station all the way up to Gude, and over to First/Norbeck, and there were a few lighted spots near Viers Mill, but other than that, we’re completely in the dark (and my fear for the coming days—the heat!).
I feel your pain, Doug. I live near the traffic circle in West End. No one in the entire neighborhood has power (from Town Center to Nelson, and from MD-28 to the Pike).
Any idea when we might be restored? When I called Pepco they didn’t have that information….
They have stopped saying anything definitive. I heard the president of Pepco today say it could be Thursday before the majority of customers have power restored, with pockets of stragglers remaining even then. Ouch.
The Twinbrook neighborhood also got hit hard by the storm and neighbors cleared the tree which blocked the road. However, at the corner of Lewis Ave. and Thornden Road, the road was still blocked yesterday because of power lines in the street from the fallen tree. So far today I haven’t been out to see if Pepco arrived to fix the lines.
It was frustrating on Sunday because we had trouble getting an answer calling 911 and the Rockville City Police Department.
Half of our street had no electricity and half did. I was fortunate to have power, but Cable TV was out for a while.
Here is a link to the slide show of the photos taken while our good neighbor worked with chain saw clearing the road.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharer
Power was restored to College Gardens neighborhood - at least, what I could tell since it was mid-day - around 1:15 this afternoon (Tuesday). The elementary school was online earlier this morning. Lots of trees down in the neighborhood but I only saw one structure - a car - that seemed badly damaged.
And then there was light…..yay!