RSOE EDIS: USA - Complex Emergency - 2010.02.10

RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service Budapest, Hungary RSOE EDIS ALERTMAIL

2010-02-10 18:31:15 - Complex Emergency - USA EDIS CODE: CE-20100210-24887-USA Date & Time: 2010-02-10 18:31:15 [UTC] Area: USA, State of Maryland, Maryland-wide, Damage level: Heavy (Level 3) Affected person(s): 20000 Not confirmed information! Description: Baltimore Gas & Electric is reporting that thousands of customers in Baltimore County are without power this morning as crews battle the second major snowstorm in less than a week in Central Maryland. On Wednesday morning at 12:30 p.m., the utility was listing 4,060 customers without power in Baltimore County, and 63 in Baltimore City. Officials said they had already restored power to 18,912 customers since the storm began, but still had a total of 8,601 customers out throughout the entire BGE service area. The utility expects additional outages to occur throughout the day as freezing rain, heavy wet snow and high wind bring tree limbs and trees down onto power lines. Officials said the current weather system, combined with last week’s heavy wet snow, increases the likelihood of power outages as tree limbs and entire trees already weakened by the first storm are vulnerable. Current weather conditions are also causing blizzard conditions on roads, making driving hazardous for BGE restoration crews. Meanwhile, the State Highway Administration on Wednesday morning issued a plea for residents to stay off the roads. “SHA will do everything we can to keep one lane passable during the … blizzard,” said SHA Administrator Neil Pedersen. “We need people to heed the warnings and stay home.” SHA is redistributing salt supplies among nearly 30 maintenance shops as salt is delivered from terminals at the Port of Baltimore. Officials reminded motorists to never pass a snow plow or plow train. Snow plows and plow trains (multiple snow plows in tandem) require a large area to operate safely. Posted:2010-02-10 18:31:15 [UTC] Please DO NOT reply to this message: replies may be treated as errors and result in your subscription being deleted. If you have trouble or other queries, send email to havaria@rsoe.hu RSOE EDIS is operated by the National Association of Radio-Distress Signalling and Infocommunications (RSOE), Budapest, Hungary. Because of the complexity of this system and its dependence on other systems, we cannot be responsible for delays or failures in forwarding or transmission. You're receiving this AlertMail because you subscribed for the service. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. Contact: havaria@rsoe.hu