Another week, another storm.
Warnings
(12:00 a.m. -- There are severe thunderstorm watches and warnings for Kent and Sussex counties in Delaware and for Anne Arundel, Caroline, Carroll, Frederick, Harford and Talbot counties in Maryland.)
New Castle County
A storm has moved quickly into New Castle County and surrounding areas this morning.
It brought heavy rain and power outages for nearly 15,000 customers across most of the county.
Most of the outages occurred in Hockessin, Newark and Pike Creek areas.
The heaviest down power hit Newark, Hockessin and near Winterthur.
Thunderstorms hit the mid-section of Delaware and move through the lower third of the state.
In Dover, the fast-moving storm struck around 10:20 a.m. with clouds darkening the skies, but there were no initial reports of blackouts.
George Giles, director of the City of Wilmington Emergency Management Office, told the Wilmington News Journal that he believed the cell has moved through but expects more storms later in the day.
Schools and offices in the Colonial School District will close early today because of the worsening weather situation.
All school closed at noon and the administration office shuts down at p.m.
The last day of school was June 11.
(See: Wilmington News Journal)
Bay Bridge
SANDY POINT, Md. (AP) - The Maryland Transportation Authority is limiting traffic on the Bay Bridge as severe storms approach the area.
Tamory Winfield of the transportation authority says traffic is being limited to one lane on the three-lane westbound span in case it is necessary to clear the bridge quickly.
Derecho
It’s the product of the winds and rain from the derecho roaring out of the Mid-West.
National Weather Service meteorologist Mitchell Gaines say, "The thunderstorms can organize into a fast moving complex and produce widespread wind damage along that path. "We're looking generally for a fairly wide swath of at least several hundred miles long." He added, "they generally move on boundaries from west to east."
Weather officials expect Delmarva to be hit with heavy rain, large hail, damaging winds and flooding.
Gaines says this comes on tops of recent tropical storms that have already left the ground soaked.
"The first system led to soils being saturated and rivers and streams are already running high. The system that came in the couple of days has onoly increased those problems." He added that, "With more rainfall coming in we're once again going to ahve a flooding concern."
This week saw at least four tornadoes – three in Maryland and one in New Castle County and this storm system could produce another.
(See: Salisbury Daily Times)
Delmarva Power
Delmarva Power says it is gearing up for a storm response and is advising customers to check their emergency supply kits and be prepared in case they lose power.
DP Spokesman Matt Likovich:
The company is advising its customers to:
- Check their emergency supply kits and be prepared in case they do lose power.
- Find tips on preparing for a storm on our website, www.delmarva.com.
- Report any outages to Delarmva Power by:
- Calling 1-800-898-8042 (New Castle County, Del., and Cecil and Harford counties, Md.); 1-800-898-8045 (Kent and Sussex counties, Del., and the Eastern Shore of Maryland)
- Visiting Delmarva Power website at www.delmarva.com
- Using Delmarva Power mobile app, available for download at www.delmarva.com/mobileapp.
To report natural gas emergencies in New Castle County, Del., call 302-454-0317.
