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Downed Trees In Baltimore County Damage Homes, Snap Powerlines

MIDDLE RIVER, Md. (WJZ) -- Massive cleanup across the state after powerful storms rip through Maryland, causing death, destruction and widespread power outages.

Christie Ileto has more on the major cleanup in Baltimore County.

Split trees and downed power lines. Crews are still cleaning up from a one-two punch of severe storms.

From high above, Sky Eye Chopper 13 captured the damage in Middle River. On the ground, Tiffany Holley looked at what's left of her Nissan Sentra.

"Not really much you can do. It's just an act of God," she said.

Her neighbor, Stephanie Cano, caught a glimpse of the tree that tumbled onto both cars.

"I heard it before I saw it. This huge crack. I thought it was lightning. It scared me to death," she said.

For Deborah Roter, Wednesday means a second night without power.

"We have animals so we haven't wanted to abandon ship," she said.

Storm damage has become an all-too-familiar sight over the last 24 hours and residents on Greenspring Avenue say a large tree has been lying in the middle of a busy intersection since Tuesday night.

"Greenspring Avenue is closed," said Ellen O'Brien. "That says it all, doesn't it?"

On Harford Road, the sound of chainsaws and bulldozers filled the streets, where heavy winds sent branches flying, leaving thousands without power.

"The winds had to be 50 to 60 miles per hour," said John Bass.

Luckily, there were no injuries. But homeowners question who's responsible for the damage.

Baltimore County officials tell WJZ it's standard for trees blocking roadways, but they don't remove trees that fall onto cars or homes for insurance purposes.

"Neither one of them wants to claim responsibility for it ," said Frank Miller. "Somebody's going to clean it up."

Homeowners on Gloucester Court are now left with no choice but to take up the damage with their neighborhood association. Many dwell on what lies ahead for the rest of the summer.

"These storms are getting more severe lately than they've ever been," Miller said.

At one point, the storm left more than 40,000 homes in Baltimore County without power.

"BGE crews continue to work around-the-clock, safely restoring electric service to customers as safely and as quickly as possible," said Carol Dodson, vice president and chief customer officer for BGE. "In areas sustaining significant tree-related damage, BGE crews must first assess the damage and remove the tree debris before actual repairs to electric delivery equipment can be made. Due to the labor- and time-intensive nature of this type of work, restoration durations may be extended. We thank our customers for their patience and for reporting downed wires and outages to BGE."

"I don't mind doing without the power for a while because then it makes you thankful and appreciate what you really do have," said Sandy Neal.

BGE says they have 1,000 workers out, trying to restore power, with Baltimore County and City and Harford and Carroll counties with the most outages.

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