I was at the office when the storm came through so i elected to wait it out there. The power flickered a few times and the computers had to be rebooted but everything is fine at work. As for home-power has been out since Friday night (neighbors say about 11 PM), landline phones are out completely, water pressure is low (reportedly Falls Church city water lost power and is on generator). I finally gave in this afternoon when my cellphone battery died and the inside temp got up above 85 and came into work. There’s a breeze outside but it’s still 100 F out. The poor kitties are miserable. I keep telling them to go lie downstairs where it’s cooler but they have been staying near me, giving me these pitiful looks like it’s my fault they’re so hot. Natasha is shedding like crazy. I grabbed some frozen dinners from the freezer to bring to work so I will not lose absolutely everything in my refrigerator/freezer. It’s tempting to just stay here at work. I could sleep on an exam table…
I tried calling Dominion Power, and their message said, “Your estimated repair time is f**k you.”
Weird - they must be forwarding all their calls to Con Edison’s customer service center in the Bronx.
Our estimated repair time is midnight on July 7th. I’m hoping this is some sort of underpromise and overdeliver thing.
We are in Takoma Park (very close to downtown Silver Spring) and got in the bathtub when it hit since we don’t have a basement. Did anyone around here see hail? It sounded like that was hitting our roof and we got a couple dents in the car.
Our power went out about 11 p.m. Friday and got restored shortly before 8 p.m Saturday, so we got very lucky. Every place selling coffee/food on Saturday morning in downtown SS was packed!
I think about half of Montgomery County is still without power…love Gov. O’Malley’s comment about sticking his boot up Pepco’s backside! http://www.nbcwashington.com/video/#!/news/local/O-Malley-Has-Boot-Up-Pepco-s-Backside/161007565
I’m in northernmost Montgomery County, MD… My house lost power from about 11pm Friday to 3am Saturday, but has flickered on and off a few times since. It nearly fried my computer. Driving around the county this afternoon, the majority of traffic lights were still out. It was kind of chaotic at busy intersections–lots of blaring horns and near collisions. Ironically, the only collision I saw the aftermath of was at a working stoplight. I also saw many, many, many trees down, including some blocking relatively major roads. I have family in Roanoke and Lynchburg, VA who will probably be without power for several days.
Somehow I had never heard of a derecho before!
Somehow the wording of that is very funny to me.
“We estimate power will be restored in your area at 11 p.m…”
“All right!”
“…On July 6.”
“Crap!”
Hot as hell down here in Atlanta, but I am very happy that at least we have power and my air conditioner works. I’d send coolness y’all’s way if I knew how.
Meanwhile, of course Friday was trash day. I believe I have located both of my recycling bins but the garbage can and lid are still MIA. Considering a planter was lifted over a 2 foot railing and deposited on my driveway, the garbage can could be anywhere. If anybody sees it-it’s big, green, and plastic and I would like it back.
Accuweather is calling it a Super Derecho.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/deadly-super-derecho-strikes-m/67383
One never knows, does one? However, I’ve only been a Doper since 2006, so perhaps there weren’t any Dopers when you lived here. 
Power out with no hope of any restoration soon. Tree on our house appears not to have done severe damage. Just gutter and shingles askew. The really large tree that fell in the yard landed exactly between my wife’s car and the house damaging nothing. Paul Bunyon could not have placed it better.
I was at work when the storm hit. the drive home down 29 South was a nightmare of tree-on-road dodging. Finally had to park my car two miles from home and hike in due to downed trees. Lucky I had a flashlight. Climbed over at least fifteen downed trees on gravel roads to my home. My wife was freaking out. She and the dogs rid the thing out alone.
The worst now is the hot nights. Bought more water today. This is going to be a very unpleasant week. Oh well, could have been worse. Two people were killed by falling trees in our area when the storm hit.
I feel kind of bad for everyone here, at least a little bit. I went to bed at 11:00pm in Alexandria, VA and didn’t notice anything amiss until I turned on the Weather Channel. I went out for groceries, came back and someone told me the power went off briefly during the night, but came back on and everything reset. I saw the movie “Magic Mike” today and really enjoyed it. But my brother’s family in Bethesda is staying at the Shoreham Hotel until their power comes back on and my mom and dad had to stay with my other brother in Alexandria, VA until the power in their Great Falls retirement center was restored. I hope the dopers get back to normal as soon as possible.
Baltimore County. I drove home from work on Friday night right at 11:00pm, which is when the rain started. My plan was to flop right into bed, but the storm quickly became so intense that I went to the porch to watch the light show. There were several lightning strikes very close together and close to my house. Then it seemed too intense so I went inside. Power cut out at about 11:30. Sleep was difficult but not impossible.
Power was restored at my home at about 4:30 Sunday morning. It’s still out at my business (three miles southeast of home), with no official estimate coming from BGE regarding when to expect it back on. I’ve talked to several people who claim to “know someone with connections who said” possibly Thursday. It affects my business in a very small way compared to my neighbors with restaurants. My heart really goes out to them.
I’ve never heard Derecho as it relates to weather before, but each time I read it here it’s conjured a mental clip of Delroy Lindo in Get Shorty saying “The other derecho”
Whooooooo Hoooooo!
Power just came back on! Sweet!
The local doomsday chatter had us not getting power on until the end of the week. My wife and I have a new cooler full of ice and a lot of canned ravioli to eat…but the AC is running. All hail the AC!!!
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The Pepco website is telling me that there is is no power outage at my home, so I have my fingers crossed that the AC will be working when I return after work.
But staying in a hotel last night was awesome.
I live about – what, 30 miles north of freckafree? and we are in the same system. We went to an outdoor concert last night and when we arrived the band was packing up to go to the “rain” location because it was dark with thunder clouds approaching. We got nothing at all, not a drop. But it did cool down about 15 degrees in an hour and a half or so. Today, bright and sunny again.
Should have kept my fat yap shut. Power went off at home at half past midnight Monday morning. It’s on at work , though. At least I didn’t run right out yesterday to restock the freezer.
There are tree branches all over the place.
I’m just north of Baltimore, up in Hunt Valley. I’m on a very rural street, so the power tends to go out if someone so much as sneezes.
We went to bed just as that storm hit. I remember a good bit of lightning, and we got two inches of rain overnight… but there was no damage at all in my immediate area, and our power didn’t even flicker. Like no damage at all- we didn’t know anything had happened until we started getting the news from our friends, some of which are still without power.
Seen a lot of utility trucks around the area, and I only encountered one dark traffic light today, but still no power at home. We will remain refugees in Frederick another night…