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Baltimore Bundles Up As Cold Temperatures Grip The State

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Mother Nature's hits keep on coming. First a snowstorm, now there are frigid temperatures around the region.

Christie Ileto was out on the side roads that are still dangerous in these frigid temperatures.

It only takes a few steps for it to hit you in the face. Temperatures in Baltimore aren't just freezing, they're falling Wednesday night.

"It's bitter cold. Not fun being a public transit user," said Nyah Vanterpool.

Winston Bey, a security guard at a downtown parking garage, spends his entire evening shift outside.

"When the temperatures go down, that's when you've really got to psych your mind out that you're not cold," he said.

"Anytime that you're outside you've got to have the right gear on," said doorman Kenneth Knox, Marriott Waterfront.

The right gear includes hats, gloves, warm socks and lots of layers.

The biting air has already forced several people to local emergency rooms.

Ten, fifteen minutes out in the cold, all exposed, with the winds as cold as it is right now, is all it takes. Doctors say it could turn deadly.

"Don't expose the skin," said Dr. Samyra Sealy, Mercy Medical Center.

Sealy warns the very young and the old are most at risk for cold-related problems like frostbite and even hypothermia.

"Children oftentimes can't tell you what they're feeling and sometimes older people have the same thing," she said. "If they're having a little dementia, they may realize, they may not even be able to articulate what they're feeling."

Police suspect dangerously low temperatures may have led to the death of a woman, whose remains were found on an Anne Arundel County golf course.

And with the setting sun comes the rising demand for hot, running water.

"BGE activated our voluntary water heater program twice today. We'll cycle those water heaters off for the duration of the period and that helps with peak demand," said Rachael Lighty, BGE spokesperson.

But for commuters, the big concern is the roads. Thawing ice could mean black ice later on.

Some side streets in Federal Hill are still snow-packed and icy and wet surfaces could become potentially dangerous overnight as those temperatures continue to plummet.

When the temperatures drop really low, it can make salt less effective.

And it looks like the whipping winds and frigid air will be lingering around.

If you're have to be out at night, especially behind the wheel, take it easy. There could be lots of patches of black ice.

Health officials ask if you have elderly neighbors, it's not a bad idea to check on them in this cold as well.

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