Crews Begin Clearing Debris & Restoring Power In Baltimore City
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- As Maryland evaluates the full effect of then-Hurricane Sandy, Baltimore City begins its cleanup and restoration efforts.
Monique Griego has more on the damage and power outages in Baltimore City.
Driving through the city you see a lot of broken trees and debris in the streets. And of course, there are still a lot of power outages and roads closures due to flooding.
While the brunt of Sandy is gone, heavy wind, a drizzling rain and flood waters linger at the Inner Harbor.
"There's a lot of water here," said Gigi Halloran, who is staying at a nearby hotel.
Halloran lost power at her home and decided to ride out the storm at a downtown hotel. Tuesday morning, she was surprised to see how high the water at the harbor had actually risen.
"At our hotel, they taped our windows because they thought they might break, but we slept right through the night," she said.
Elsewhere in Mt. Washington, powerful wind and rain pounded neighborhoods.
"There was this low rumbling most of the night. The trees were really whipping," said Juan Calvo, who lost power.
The storm took out several huge trees, which in turn got tangled up with the power lines.
"Emergency crews were out here pretty quick to make sure to get everybody away from downed lines, and BGE showed up soon after that," a man said.
Some homeowners, including Calvo, lost power around 1 p.m. Monday. But by 7 a.m. Tuesday, BGE workers had already turned it back on.
"We're thrilled," Calvo said. "We expected to be without power for days. Maybe that's what made things pay off."
It seems as soon as Sandy calmed down, the utility buckets were going up. It's part of a recovery effort customers are relived to see.
"Oh, it's awesome. It's amazing. They were here so quick. There's a huge number of them. And there's tree people too. I'm amazed I'm really amazed," a Baltimore City resident said.
Related Story: 2 People Killed In Maryland During Sandy
While many in the city are still without power, the overall feeling is Baltimore dodged a bullet.
"I definitely think we lucked out. We were expecting things to be really bad," Calvo said.
Most people are still dealing with a lot of debris and leaves in their yard but no major damage.
Baltimore City residents can call 311 for the latest information on the city's storm response and recovery efforts.
