Baltimore hosted storm recovery assistance event Wednesday
BALTIMORE -- Downed trees and power lines littered parts of Northeast Baltimore after a major storm ripped through parts of the area nearly a week ago.
"The storm caused flooding in my basement, damage on the side of my house, a tree from my neighbor's went through my kitchen window, and I'm still trying to recover from that," city resident Karen Jackson said.
Jackson and many people like here were left without power and food for days.
"It's frustrating and difficult," Jackson said.
On Wednesday, Baltimore City hosted a storm recovery assistance event to help ease the stress related to severe weather last week.
The Storm Recovery Assistance Event was held from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at 2500 E. Northern Parkway in Baltimore.
Staff from several city and state agencies were on hand to help provide insurance claim support, flood management information, emergency management expertise, and food distribution information.
The Office of Emergency Management said that within hours after the storm last week, its staff was able to track data from emergency calls and BGE outages and pinpoint on a map who was hit the hardest by the storm. From there, emergency crews canvassed the area to help anyone in need.
"We lost a good amount of food," city resident Melanie Kerr said. "We have a deep freezer. All of that was wasted. We still don't have cable and internet."
So far, the city's efforts have been a huge help for those still struggling to recover from the storm damage.
"It takes the stress off the situation," Jackson said. "They've been answering questions, giving us emergency things, so I feel really grateful."
City officials have been encouraging residents to come out and take advantage of the free support.