Thursday, September 8, 2011
State Del. John Olszewski Jr. says he has sent a letter to the Director of Public Works for Baltimore County, seeking a comprehensive review of local stormwater management infrastructure.
While not as damaging as our recent experience with Hurricane Isabel, the impact of Hurricane Irene caused plenty of problems for residents across the district. After talking with residents concerned about issues of flooding and water backup following Irene as well as other recent thunderstorms, I have sent a letter to the Director of Public Works requesting that Baltimore County take a comprehensive look at our existing stormwater infrastructure to identify potential capital improvements and also to investigate possible operational improvements to best protect our residents. One such operational improvement might be regularly checking storm drains and sewers, particularly before major storm events, to ensure that rainfall is able to …
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
State Sen. Norman R. Stone, Jr. thanks BGE employees for their work and after during Hurricane Irene, but asks if the utility company could've been better prepared for the lengthy power outages that followed.
This has been a very difficult August for our area. Starting with two major rainstorms that dumped record amounts of rain on our area. The rain caused many basements to flood and left some without power. Streets and some areas were flooded which presented additional problems and surprised many of us. Then along comes the 5.8 earthquake, which surprised the entire area. This part of the country very seldom experiences earthquakes but this one was the largest one ever recorded in the state of Maryland area. Like many other buildings our offices shook and forced our staff to exit the building. Just about all of the buildings affected were evacuated and people were gathered outside of their building wondering what had just taken place. To …
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Hurricane Irene was one of the most damaging storms in the company's history, said Kenneth W. DeFontes Jr.
BGE sincerely thanks each and every one of its 1.2 million residential and business customers for their patience and understanding through BGE’s massive restoration efforts following the widespread and devastating effects of Hurricane Irene. We thank you for taking the time to prepare for this major storm—your careful planning made it possible for all of us to manage the impact of Irene—one of the most damaging storms in our nearly 200-year history. And, we thank you for doing your part and reporting outages. By doing so, you helped ensure that we restored power as quickly, safely and efficiently as possible. Please know that we appreciate the intense frustration that results from being without electric service, as daily tasks become …
Friday, September 2, 2011
An Open Letter to BGE Customers: Thank You for Your Patience
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Friday, September 2, 2011
BGE wants to thank our customers for their patience and understanding as we continue our Hurricane Irene restoration efforts. We want to assure them that we are working as safely, quickly and efficiently as possible to restore their power. Throughout Central Maryland, we have been addressing public safety issues, such as downed wires, and repairing critical infrastructure as well as repairing equipment and lines serving individual homes and businesses. BGE expects to have all power restored to those impacted by Irene in less time than it took to restore power during 2003’s Isabel—a storm that’s similar in amounts of power outages. Despite the fact that we have restored nearly 80 percent of those who lost power within 72 hours of the storm’…
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
The water is being offered to residents using wells who are without power and running water.
Non-potable water will be available at fire stations to Baltimore County residents who are on wells and are without power and running water, according to a fire department press release sent out by fire department spokeswoman Elise Armacost. The release states that residents should bring their own containers. The following is a list of fire stations in Baltimore County that are distributing water. According to the BGE power outage map, 48,355 Baltimore County customers are still without service as a result of Hurricane Irene.
Two Bowleys Quarters residents were hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a generator.
As many people continue to rely on generators for power following Hurricane Irene, police, firefighters and others are warning that improper uses of such devices could be deadly. On Monday, an adult and a child in the 600 block of Carrollwood Road were hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning as a result of multiple generators operating in the victims' apartment. The same day, an Ellicott City man was found dead, likely the result of carbon monoxide poisoning. Investigators said they found an empty generator in a garage attached to the victim’s house that was turned on and that there was a high level of carbon monoxide in the air. In a news release, the Tampa, FLA-based Insurance Institute of Business & Home Safety (IBHS) offered the …
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Maryland has no law governing right of way when power fails and traffic lights go dark.
Hurricane Irene didn't just knock down trees and cut off power. The weekend storm that churned up the East Coast has inadvertently revealed a hole in Maryland's traffic laws, according to a regional motorist organization. Scores of intersections were left without power in the days following the weekend storm, leaving government officials to plead for motorists to treat intersections with inoperable traffic lights as four-way stops. But Maryland law does not require it. "People think we have a law but we don't," said Ragina Averella, public and government affairs manager for AAA Mid-Atlantic. "I was a (Baltimore City) police officer and I thought we had a law." Del. James Malone, chairman of the House subcommittee overseeing motor vehicles …
Electrical wires are still dangling across the backyards of the 2000 block of Barry Road.
Hurricane Irene may be gone but last weekend's storm left plenty of unwelcome reminders. For instance, high winds uprooted a tree, yanking nearby power lines to ground behind the 2000 block of Barry Road on Sunday, and power outages remain the result. The wires now hang low over the backyards of several households, and one minivan is draped with multiple power lines. Electricity in the wires has been turned off since Sunday after BGE initially told residents that it it could take up to 72 hours to respond to the incident. “When you need them most, they’re not there,” said Shannon Dreyfus-Holthaus, the owner of the minivan, who has been relying on her neighbor’s generator for power. “Where are they?” Over 200,000 customers are still waiting…
Damage and power outages in wake of Hurricane Irene have delayed the start of school until Wednesday.
UPDATE (7:18 A.m.)—All but 21 Baltimore County public schools will open for the 2011-2012 school year on Wednesday, school system officials announced Tuesday afternoon via Twitter. Every public high school will open Wednesday, but three middle schools and 16 elementary schools will remain closed. Stoneleigh Elementary had been scheduled to open but was closed after a transformer blew, causing electrical outages, according to a recorded telephone message from the Towson school's principal. Middle school closures for Wednesday: Elementary school closures for Aug. 31: Stay with Patch for updates.
More than 1,000 workers are assisting BGE crews in restoring power following Hurricane Irene.
John Hon celebrated his 29th wedding anniversary this weekend with an all-expenses paid trip to Baltimore. But the journeyman electrical lineman from Kentucky was without his wife, and hasn’t had a chance to take in any of the tourist attractions like the Inner Harbor or Fort McHenry. Instead, Hon has been hard at work helping to restore power to the hundreds of thousands of Maryland residents who have been without electricity since Hurricane Irene came through Saturday. “I’ve been doing this for 22 years, so my wife is used to this and she is really understanding,” said Hon, a father of eight, who works for Serco Inc. “We have a lot of work to do here and it’s rewarding to be able to help.” Hon is one of more than 1,000 out-of-state …
Wayne Monroe
12:20 pm on Saturday, November 5, 2011
Notice the choice of wording here. If it is a responsibility of government then the call is for a "review". If there is a perception of a failure of private enterprise then the call is for an "investigation". (I know this is old news but the matter is still listed on the home page of the Patch). more ›