BGE still working to restore power, while those without it seek refuge

COCKEYSVILLE, Md. -- It's been two full days since tens of thousands of people lost power, and many will have to spend another evening in the summer heat.

There are elderly residents who are finding it difficult to cope in the heat and families are scrambling to find a place to go so that they won't have to spend a third night without air conditioning.

At its worst, BGE said more than 100,000 customers had no power. The company said the hope is that by Thursday evening, the number will drop to fewer than 18,000.

"We will continue to work around the clock as we have been since the beginning of the storm," said Derrick Dickens, the Chief Operating Officer of BGE. "And we'll do everything possible to get our customers restored as quickly as possible as we do it safely.."

Dickens said 300 existing BGE crews were mobilized prior to Tuesday's storm and an additional 800 crews were brought in from surrounding areas for mutual aid.

He said the utility company was adequately ready for the storm.

"Absolutely. We were prepared by looking at the forecast," Dickens answered. "We knew what we needed anticipating the weather. However, Mother Nature tends to sometimes pull tricks on us and we were able to respond to that shift in that weather pattern."

Dickens said crews are often working to remove massive trees, and the problems are sometimes worse once crews get on the scene. BGE previously invested $1.2 billion so that they'd be better prepared for intense storms, he said.

"I understand that being without your power in the summer is very difficult and not having electricity in general is difficult. But we're making our best efforts and working 24 hours a day to make sure that we effectively and safely restore our customers power and doing it as quickly as possible," said Dickens.

In Baltimore County, one of the hardest hit areas, residents on Charington Road said there projected power restoration time changed three times, and it's now set for Friday night at 11 p.m., three days after the storms.

"It was very hard. Very hard," said Maryam Dostedar, who was concerned about her 97-year-old mother who lives with her.

"Yesterday we went to my cousin's house, but at night she'll be back here because, you know, it's hard for her to sleep somewhere else, you know," said Dostedar.

Across the street, another property owner said she was hoping the power would have been back on already.

"My daughter's supposed to work from home today, and she has no place to work because it's impossible," said Lana Guzman.