Crestwood Storm Damage - 48 Hours Later

Friday night, a huge storm blew through the DC area.  And it blew really, really hard.  And when you live in a neighborhood with a whole lot of big, mature trees, it gets interesting. 

After the storm, there were downed trees and power lines all over the place here in Crestwood.  And 48 hours after the storm, every single one of them is still down.

Now, when you are the Mayor of Washington, DC, nobody gets upset with you when Mother Nature hurls 90 mph winds at your city.  But they do get upset when, after 48-hours, everything looks exactly the same as just after the storm passed through.

Vincent Gray, our current mayor, had a hard act to follow.  His predecessor, Adrian Fenty, would have had guys out there the next morning with chain saws clearing the roadways and working with Pepco to get power restored as soon as possible.  And on days like today, a lot of us do miss Adrian Fenty.

It's impossible to drive for more than a couple of blocks through any residential neighborhood in Upper Northwest without having to detour around some fallen trees and power lines.  And all any city employee has done so far is to drape a lot of yellow police tape around the power lines that are dangling from poles or lying across streets and sidewalks.  And I'm wondering just how effective all of the yellow police tape will be at keeping neighborhood children away from the power lines.

Then there is the issue of 50 or so houses in the neighborhood being without electricity - and the temperatures are in the nineties with amazing humidity.  They are estimating that it will take at least a week to restore power.

We were lucky that none of the big trees did major damage to any of the Crestwood homes.  They had the good sense to fall on top of yards and street signs.

In the meantime, it looks like the 4th of July parade that was planned for the children might have to be cancelled - the route it would take is being blocked by fallen trees and lines.  The good thing is that neighbors are helping one another, offering spare air conditioned rooms and spare space in their freezers.  And I guess, bottom line, that is one thing I love about Crestwood.