Howard County Executive: Restoration Effort Could Continue Into Weekend

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (WJZ)—As we brace for possible severe weather, the cleanup from Friday's storm is far from over.

Rochelle Ritchie is tracking the storm aftermath in Howard County.

Howard County residents like Tyrone Gittens are spending their time on the phone talking to insurance agencies in hopes of getting their homes repaired after Friday night's storm.

Gittens' lawn is covered with branches and trees. He says one downed tree broke his deck.

"Branches were rolling across the roof, and then after that I just heard this big whoosh sound like something dropped," he said.

He says on Friday night he could hear the trees and branches cracking in the wind.

A pine tree more than 100 feet long barely missed his home.

"The height of the tree is like twice the length of the house," Gittens said.

Across Howard County, dozens of lawns are littered with trees yanked by their roots.

"I've seen so many people come by and take pictures 'cause when you come to the street from the bottom of the hill you see the tree in whole," said Neil Phelps, homeowner.

Utility crews are working overtime to restore power to thousands.  Some have come from out-of-state to help BGE workers.

"They're telling us it still may be into the weekend, and we're saying 'Come on. Let's go. Let's go. Let's get it done,'" said Howard County Executive Ken Ulman.

Ulman says unfortunately, those who have been left without power for four days now could be left in the dark this weekend.

Like many, he is also frustrated with the waiting game and plans to ask tough questions to BGE when things return to normal.

"Are they doing all the trimming that they're supposed to be doing? Are there areas that we should be burying underground that we haven't?" Ulman said.

As Ulman tries to solve the problem of 10,000 people, Gittens tries to deal with $10,000 in damage.

"Having a homeowner's policy has helped me out," Gittens said.

With the threat of more storms, homeowners are concerned that some of the broken branches that have not fallen off the trees will not be able to hang on much longer.