WASHINGTON (AP) -
Millions of people
in a swath of states along the East Coast and farther west went into a third
sweltering day without power Monday after a round of summer storms that killed
more than a dozen people.
The outages left many to contend with
stifling homes and spoiled food over the weekend as temperatures approached or
exceeded 100 degrees.
Around 2 million customers from North Carolina to New Jersey
and as far west as Illinois
were without power Monday morning. And utility officials said the power would
likely be out for several more days. Since Friday, severe weather has been
blamed for at least 18 deaths, most from trees falling on homes and cars.
The power outages had prompted concerns of
traffic problems as commuters took to roads with darkened stoplights. But
throughout northern Virginia,
there was less traffic than normal in many places Monday as federal workers
took advantage of liberal leave that was put in place for the day.
To alleviate traffic congestion around
Baltimore and Washington, federal and state officials gave many workers the
option of staying home Monday. Maryland's
governor also gave state workers wide leeway for staying out of the office.
"It was less traffic," said D.C.
resident Rob Lavender, who commuted to Arlington County
from the district. "It's more hectic on a regular day."
There were more than 400 signal outages in Maryland on Monday, including more than 330 in hard-hit Montgomery County outside the nation's capital,
according to the State Highway Administration. There were 100 signal outages in
northern Virginia
late Sunday afternoon, and 65 roads were closed, although most were secondary
roads.
"If you have to drive or need to drive,
leave yourself a lot of extra time," Maryland State Highway Administration
spokesman Charlie Gischlar said. "There's going to be delays."
Some drivers resorted to ingenuity to get to
work. On a residential street in suburban Falls Church,
Va., just outside Washington, downed trees blocked the road on
either side. Enterprising neighbors used chain saws to cut a makeshift path on
one side, but the other remained completely blocked by a massive oak tree.
"They kind of forgot about us out
here," resident Eric Nesson said.
Still, residents took the aggravation with
good humor. Posted on the oak tree was a sign saying: "Free firewood you
haul." The tree lay across a smashed Ford pickup truck, with a sign
reading: "For SALE.
Recently lowered."
Meanwhile, Coast Guard officials say they
have suspended the search for a man who disappeared early Saturday while
boating during the storm off Maryland.
On Sunday night in North
Carolina, a 77-year-old man was killed when strong winds collapsed
a Pitt County barn where he was parking an
all-terrain vehicle, authorities said. In neighboring Beaufort County,
a couple was killed when a tree fell on the golf cart they were driving.
Officials said trees fell onto dozens of houses, and two hangars were destroyed
at an airport in Beaufort
County.
The damage was mostly blamed on
straight-line winds, which are strong gusts pushed ahead of fast-moving thunderstorms
like a wall of wind.
Elsewhere, at least six of the dead were
killed in Virginia,
including a 90-year-old woman asleep in her bed when a tree slammed into her
home. Two young cousins in New Jersey
were killed when a tree fell on their tent while camping. Two were killed in Maryland, one in Ohio,
one in Kentucky and one in Washington.
In West
Virginia, authorities said one person died early
Sunday when the all-terrain vehicle they were riding hit a tree that had fallen
over a road.
For survivors, it was a challenge to stay
cool over the weekend.
From Atlanta
to Baltimore,
temperatures approached or exceeded triple digits. Atlanta
set a record with a high of 105 degrees, while the temperature hit 99 at Ronald Reagan
Washington National
Airport just outside the
nation's capital. With no air conditioning, officials urged residents to check
on their elderly relatives and neighbors. It was tough to find a free pump at
gas stations that did have power, and lines of cars snaked around fast-food
drive-thrus.
"If we don't get power tonight, we'll
have to throw everything away," Susan Fritz, a mother of three, said
grimly of her refrigerator and freezer. Fritz came to a library in Bethesda, Md.,
so her son could do school work. She charged her phone and iPad at her local
gym.
Power crews from as far away as Florida and Oklahoma
were on their way to the mid-Atlantic region to help get the power back on and
the air conditioners running again. Even if people have generators, the gas-run
devices often don't have enough power to operate an air conditioner.
And power restoration was spotty: Several
people interviewed by The Associated Press said they remained without power
even though the lights were on at neighbors' homes across the street. In Maryland, Gov. O'Malley
promised he would push utility companies to get electricity restored as quickly
as possible.
"No one will have his boot further up
Pepco's and BGE's backsides than I will," O'Malley said Sunday afternoon,
referring to the two main utilities serving Maryland.
In Waldorf, Md., Charles
County emergency
officials handed out free 40-pound bags of ice to anyone who needed them. Among
the takers was Ann Brown, 47, of Accokeek,
Md., who had stayed in a hotel
Saturday night because her house was without power.
She went to a cookout in Upper Marlboro, Md., on Saturday after
family members decided to cook all the food in the freezer rather than let it
go bad.
"Whatever they had, that's what we ate,
and it was great," Brown said.
Whether she makes the commute to work Monday
will depend entirely on how comfortable the office is.
"If they don't have power, I'm not
going. But if they have power, yeah, I'm going in, to be in the air
conditioning all day," she said.
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Associated Press writers Matthew Barakat in
Falls Church, Va.; Jessica Gresko in Waldorf, Md.; Stacy A. Anderson in
Bethesda, Md.; Steve Szkotak in Lakeside, Va.; Jonathan Drew in Atlanta; and
Dan Sewell in Cincinnati contributed to this report.
