Sandy Hits But Doesn't Knock Out Greater Dundalk's Waterfront

When they awoke Tuesday morning, most waterfront residents in Greater Dundalk were grateful to find homes and cars safe, much unlike the results of Tropical Storm Isabel in 2003.

Water did cover piers, invade yards and reach houses, and about 44,000 Baltimore County residents were still without electricity as of about 4 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the Baltimore Gas and Electric website.

But residents are mostly grateful that, while they prepared for the worst, the Greater Dundalk area did not sustain damage as it experienced during Tropical Storm Isabel in 2003.

Edgemere resident Steve Austin, who posted a picture of his street under water, still said "all good" when asked how his family members, house and cars fared through the storm.

Millers Island resident Georgia Melvin-Poling, whose family was displaced for 13 months after Tropical Storm Isabel struck in September 2003, said Tuesday that her home came through Hurricane Sandy relatively unscathed.

"We have flooding roads," she said in a phone interview. "The water covered all of the piers down here, all of the yards and went out into the streets."

She said about five inches of water entered the lower level of her house before the water started receding, but admitted she's not going to mop the ceramic tile floor until tomorrow.

"Tonight's high tide will bring it all back in again, so what's the point," she said with a laugh.

Melvin-Poling admitted to getting nervous over the "horrible" winds, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that the neighborhood didn't sustain any significant tree damage.

Her house lost power around 7:45 p.m. Monday, and it was restored at about 3 a.m. Tuesday.

"It really could have been much worse," Melvin-Poling said. "We're really grateful."

Tuesday afternoon, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, U.S. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and Baltimore County  Councilman John Olszewski Sr. surveyed storm damage in eastern Baltimore County, including Watersedge, according to Don Mohler, Kamenetz's chief of staff.

"Everyone is thankful that it appears that the storm was less significant than anticipated," Mohler said Tuesday afternoon. "Residents have heeded the advice and were prepared for the storm."

Mohler said it looks like fewer trees were downed by Sandy than by the summer's derecho, but warned that the ground is still "extremely saturated" and it won't take much to bring more trees down.

With the bulk of the storm over, county workers and residents will move on to the cleanup phase, Mohler said.

The county will make water available at all of its fire stations (residents must bring their own containers) and trash bins will be placed at some fire stations.

Mohler expressed his thanks to first responders and county citizens for their efforts before, during and after the storm, and again said he was grateful that Baltimore County was hit relatively lightly.

"Just a slight shift makes a big difference in the path of a storm." Mohler said. "We're grateful that Baltimore County residents didn't get the worst of this storm."

To catch up on complete Hurricane Sandy coverage on Dundalk Patch, visit our Storm Central page.