Storms in Eastern U.S. Knock Out Power for Thousands, Disrupt Air Travel

By wazup on August 9, 2023 Comments Closed / 79 views

At least two people died as powerful storms ripped through the Eastern U.S. Monday, resulting in hundreds of thousands of power outages and disrupting air travel.

A 15-year-old boy from Anderson, S.C., died after a large tree fell on him shortly after he arrived at his grandparent’s house Monday, the Anderson County Coroner’s Office said. A 28-year-old man was struck by lightning during the storm Monday and died, the Florence Police Department in Alabama said.

The storms carried hail and lightning to communities across the Eastern U.S. and resulted in hundreds of thousands of power outages Monday. The National Weather Service warned residents across the mid-Atlantic of large hail, damaging winds and the potential for tornadoes. The storm didn’t appear to produce tornadoes. Reports of large hail in Virginia and Maryland were identified by the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center.

By Tuesday late afternoon, about 180,000 customers were without power across Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee and Georgia, according to data from PowerOutage.us.

Repair crews made progress restoring power in many areas.

Dozens of vehicles were stuck on Maryland Route 140 for hours Monday due to fallen electric poles.

Photo: The Baltimore Sun/Associated Press

The Knoxville Utilities Board in Knoxville, Tenn., said about 6,000 customers remained without power Tuesday afternoon, down from more than 56,000 Monday afternoon. Remaining repairs may take several days to complete, the utility said.

“A single pole replacement takes at least eight hours and could take up to 12 hours to complete,” the utility said Tuesday. “With more than two dozen broken poles currently identified and more damage remaining to assess, we currently have more than 80 crews working, including two dozen crews from neighboring utilities.”

More than 1,700 flights were canceled and nearly 9,000 were delayed within, into or out of the U.S. Monday, according to FlightAware. The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it was rerouting aircraft around the storms.

By Tuesday late afternoon, more than 3,800 U.S. flights were delayed and more than 390 were canceled, according to FlightAware.

In Maryland, dozens of vehicles were stuck on Maryland Route 140 for hours Monday due to fallen electric poles. All motorists and passengers were transported away from the area by 10:30 p.m., a spokesperson for Maryland State Police said Tuesday.

A high school in Loudon County, Tenn., canceled classes Tuesday due to damage from the storm. At UNC Health Rex, a hospital in Raleigh, N.C., an area lightning strike Monday evening resulted in power outages to some parts of the hospital. The temporary outages lasted for a little over an hour and didn’t affect patients, a spokesperson for the hospital said.