Emergency Crews Work To Restore Power After Harford County Is Slammed With Storms

HARFORD COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) -- The latest round of storms to hit Maryland caused emergency crews to work through Mother's Day.

Meteorologist Tim Williams reports--one of the hardest hit areas in Harford County is still cleaning up.

A generator motor served as the alarm clock. It's the sound residents in Forest Hill and other parts of Harford County awakened to on Mother's Day. Violent storms rolled through Saturday evening, knocking out power to several neighborhoods.

"Sky got really dark, little bit of rain and then all of the sudden, a lot of rain. I couldn't see my neighbor's house over here," said Mike Kraft.

Mike Kraft and his neighbors are cleaning up while BGE continues restoring power to their homes. Downed trees took out fences; power lines landed on a swing set. It was all the result of heavy rain and straight line winds, not a tornado.

"Watching the rain come down sideways and listening, hoping I didn't hear the sound of a train rumbling through. When I didn't, I said, `Okay,'" Kraft said.

The National Weather Service confirmed this damage was due to a "microburst," a blast of air that moves in a downward motion until it hits the ground. It then spreads outward in all directions and usually within a two and a half mile radius.

"Crushed my daughter's swing set," said Don Schafer.

Schafer is no stranger to storm damage. Superstorm Sandy damaged his roof and chimney. His was one of more than 130 emergency calls in Harford County during the height of this storm.

"I didn't hear the loud crack like I heard during Sandy, just a loud thump," Schafer said. "Which is still a horrible sound."

The sounds of work crews have now gone away and, fortunately, so have the storms.

At last check, BGE reports nearly all power is restored from Saturday's storms.