Damage Control: How BGE responded to a dangerous storm system that thrashed Maryland
BALTIMORE -- Crews have restored power to nearly 100,000 Baltimore Gas and Electric customers after a storm system swept through parts of Maryland.
As of 9 p.m. on Tuesday, roughly 22,000 people remained off the grid. The majority of them reside in pockets of Carroll, Harford and Baltimore counties.
"In every storm event, we can expect that a preponderance of damage is going to be caused by trees falling on our equipment," BGE spokesperson Nick Alexopulos said. "This is why our investments in resiliency and reliability are so critical."
Vegetation management is part of that investment, Alexopulos confirmed to WJZ.
"Strategic vegetation management, continual trimming of trees along where our equipment is to make sure when these storms come in, the damage is mitigated to the best extent possible," Alexopulos said.
In Westminster, Route 140 remains shut down after more than 30 poles toppled across the major thoroughfare, which caused 47 people to be trapped inside their vehicles for several hours.
"That is an extraordinarily complicated restoration job," Alexopulos said. "It is catastrophic damage. We talked to our crews and they said it's something if you work at BGE your entire career, you may see once."
Crews had to de-energize and ground the lines before people could be safely removed from their vehicles; however, officials said no one was hurt.
Assessment to make necessary repairs is still underway.
The damage has impacted more than 10,200 customers in the area.
