Thousands without power in Bethesda after thunderstorm damages and uproots trees

Pepco crews staging at the 7-Eleven store
on River Road in Bethesda this morning

UPDATE - 7:07 AM: Additional brownouts reported in the Westbard area from 6:49 AM to 6:51 AM, at which time there was a power outage from 6:51 to 7:03 AM, and at 7:04 AM.

Over 10,000 Pepco customers remain without power this morning in Montgomery County, but that number is down about 60,000 from the height of last evening's thunderstorm damage. The weather event, and resulting tree and power line damage, has been one of the few significant tests for Pepco since the electric utility was acquired by Exelon in 2016. Yesterday's storm appeared deceptively routine for late summer, but spawned straight line winds in areas like North Bethesda and Rockville, and had some in Northwest Washington, D.C. reporting a tornado in their community.

Southwest Bethesda neighborhoods like Springfield, Sumner, Wood Acres, Bannockburn and Spring Hill are still experiencing significant power outages. Grid resiliency issues reared their head again in the Westbard area long after skies had cleared Saturday night. Residents there who were fortunate enough to retain power after the storm last night report experiencing brownouts at 2:12 AM and 4:32 AM. The 4:32 AM brownout was an extended one, as after a split-second blackout that ravaged appliance motors, light fixtures were shimmering and flickering until all power was lost around 4:45 AM. Power was then restored around 4:48 AM. Interestingly, both brownout episodes reported seem to coincide with brand new power outages in the Westbard and Wood Acres/Searl Terrace areas, which the Pepco outage map indicates were reported at 2:15 AM (Searl Terrace) and 4:53 AM (Westbard Avenue). This morning's brownouts follow three sunny day brownouts in the Westbard area two weeks ago.

In North Bethesda, apartment building residents reported being in the dark Saturday night, and outages persist around Grosvenor, Garrett Park, Tilden Lane, Randolph Hills and the Randolph Road corridor this morning. Things aren't looking much better in the Twinbrook and Rollins Park areas of Rockville.

Aspen Hill is still smarting today with many outages. Fortunately for those without air conditioning, today's high will "only" be 85 degrees, instead of the 99 degree peak experienced last Friday. Outages also persist around Leisure World, Bel Pre Road, Wheaton, Kensington, Kemp Mill, Takoma Park, Hillandale, Colesville and Fairland. 

The storm appears to have cut a straight path across Montgomery Village, Goshen, and Laytonsville, judging from the large number of outages there. Outages remain in the Kentlands, Montgomery College-Germantown campus, Olney and Sandy Spring areas. 

Old Georgetown Grille replaces storm-damaged awnings (Photos)

The new awnings arrived and have been installed at Old Georgetown Grille at 7755 Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda. They've got the same retro font, but with better color since they haven't been faded by the sun yet. The blustery winter storm did a number on the awnings at the popular diner a few weeks back.

Bethesda restaurant replacing awnings damaged by storm (Photos)

High winds during the recent winter storm damaged the awnings at the Old Georgetown Grille at 7755 Old Georgetown Road in downtown Bethesda. They are now being replaced. On Saturday, the damaged awnings had been removed, leaving the frames behind.

Blustery day in downtown Bethesda (Photos)

When they said to bring objects indoors due to high wind gusts today, they weren't kidding. The effects of the blustery conditions could be seen in the Woodmont Triangle neighborhood this afternoon. 

A Bethesda Urban Partnership kiosk was blown around by the wind onto the sidewalk, some of its doors damaged by gusts. So was the door of a utility box. Two newspaper boxes were also knocked down. It's a wild and woolly day out there, the telephone weatherman might say, if he hadn't been unlugged by Verizon a few years ago.

Strong winds in downtown Bethesda topple umbrella at shuttered restaurant

St. Arnold's Mussel Bar (not to be confused with Mussel Bar at Bethesda Row) at 7525 Old Georgetown Road has been closed since last year, but there are still tables with umbrellas on the patio outside the restaurant. Occasional gusts of strong wind last night toppled one of the umbrellas. St. Arnold's recently confirmed that their temporary pandemic closure had become permanent.

Power outages in Bethesda, Chevy Chase follow brief thunderstorm

A fast-moving thunderstorm briefly brought heavy rain and frequent lightning to Bethesda and Chevy Chase in the last hour. It also brought multiple power outages. About 1800 Pepco customers are without power across both towns. Most of Montgomery County was also impacted, and is experiencing numerous outages. Due to the number of outages, Pepco is forecasting conservative restoration times as late as tomorrow for some.

Montgomery County garage sign damaged

The sign at the Cordell-St. Elmo public parking garage was damaged Tuesday. A panel with the Montgomery County seal has come off, and is propped up against the base of the sign. The lighted sign still works fine. It's unclear whether the damage was caused by heavy rain and blustery winds, or through vandalism.

Storm packs a punch in Bethesda with flooding and power outages

Hundreds were left without power overnight across Bethesda, as several storms passed through the area with heavy lightning, torrential downpours, high winds, and even hail. During the 10:00 PM hour, at least 5 homes were struck by lightning, according Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesman Pete Piringer. One home was struck on Rollingwood Drive in Chevy Chase.

Wires were down in many places, and trees and limbs came crashing down on homes. A tree fell on a home in the 6100 block of Stardust Lane, in the Country Club Forest community.

Occupants of a vehicle were trapped by flooding near the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Goldsboro Road. MCFRS dispatched a Swift Water Rescue team to the scene around 11:40 PM, but the victims managed to escape the vehicle before they arrived.

The southwest area of Bethesda was particularly hard hit by power outages, as were Bethesda neighborhoods along the Capital Beltway.

Power outages in Bethesda

Brief heavy wind gusts during the first storm to hit Bethesda this evening have knocked out power in a few spots around Bethesda. A number of customers are without power in the Sumner/Glen Mar Park neighborhood. According to Pepco, less than five customers are in the dark in Kenwood.

Seventy-three customers lack power northwest of the intersection of River Road and Wilson Lane, and there are several small outages along the Burdette Road corridor. There are also small outages in downtown Bethesda and south of Wilmett Road. The largest outage, over 300 customers, is near Georgetown Prep.

Potomac west of Falls Road appears to be the hardest-hit spot in our area.

There is a limb down on Little Falls Parkway, and there is standing water on the CVS side of the road on Bradley Boulevard at Arlington Road.

Mild storm's heavy rain fuels wrecks, tree collapses, isolated power outages in Bethesda (Photo)

A mild storm, with heavy and relentless rain, wreaked more havoc than it seemed capable of yesterday across Bethesda. Very little wind, and no thunder and lightning accompanied the storm, which nonetheless caused trouble up and down the eastern seaboard through late last night. In Bethesda, several fender benders and at least one more serious wreck kept public safety employees busy throughout the evening.

One auto accident on Old Georgetown Road led to the southbound lanes being closed between 6 and 7 PM last night near Suburban Hospital. Traffic backed up for a mile leading into downtown Bethesda. Traffic signal outages in the northbound lanes near Tilden Middle School created an equally-bad backup in that direction, slowing firefighters attempting to reach the accident scene, as southbound drivers had nowhere to move.

The solid northbound jam meant emergency vehicles could not enter the oncoming lanes to get around the jam, either, showing how serious the impact of the county's worsening traffic congestion could be for emergency response times. It's a real problem, and our current elected officials are only making traffic worse, rather than executing their duty to provide a functional road system.

This tree fell on a home on
Walhonding Road in Bethesda

Close to midnight, a tree fell on a house in the 6300 block of Walhonding Road in Bethesda, trapping 2 residents in the basement of the home. No one was injured, but the family was displaced according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesperson Pete Piringer. The Red Cross is assisting the 2 residents and their dog in finding temporary shelter.

A late power outage in the Parkside area near Grosvenor put less than 20 customers in the dark. Pepco was estimating those customers' power would be restored by 6:00 PM tonight.

Photo courtesy Pete Piringer, MCFRS

SANDY DAMAGE PHOTOS - HURRICANE SANDY HITS BETHESDA, MARYLAND - WASHINGTON, DC AREA - SUPERSTORM PHOTO GALLERY

Here is a photo gallery of Hurricane Sandy in Bethesda, and the damage the superstorm left behind.  It was minimal compared to what happened in New York and New Jersey.  In fact, there just wasn't that much damage here at all.

Water was starting to pool in the Westwood
Shopping Center parking lot at 8 AM Monday

Last minute shoppers dashed into
Giant as the storm hit

Fashion Craft Cleaners was open

...and Starbucks...

Sandy doesn't like Thai food

Sandy does what you've always wanted to
do to bossy parking signs in Bethesda

They've fallen, and they can't get up!