I'm sitting here wondering if my power is going to stay on -- we rarely lose it where I live in DC but the lights are flickering. Was outside about 10:45p talking to neighbors when the wind hit -- incredible! We were sand-blasted before we could get inside.

80 mph gusts reported around the DC metro area. 300,000 reportedly out of power just in the PEPCO service area (DC and Maryland). Dominion Power (Virginia) reporting 600,000 without power.

To everyone in the affected areas: be safe and best wishes.

I feel so sorry for anyone who does not have power for air conditioning tomorrow (forecast to be another 100+ degree day). They are also expecting another line of super severe storms Saturday evening.

And once again I'd like to express gratitude for everyone on ETS the past several years who have helped me to become more prepared for these situations. This was a surprise storm - until this afternoon it was believed that we had only a very small chance of thunderstorms today -- let alone an epic event like this (epic for us -- weather guys are saying it has been at least a decade since DC has experienced anything like this).

I've got a Petzl Zipka headlamp/wristlamp in my pocket - other flashlights ready to light up and candle lanterns ready to go.

Survived the storm here. Blew the garbage cans about.

Too wet to mow. Oh darn...

I live in Anne Arundel County, east of D.C. about 20+ miles. We came out OK, and with power. Lost power for only about 45 minutes late last night. We also lost several big branches off trees in the backyard, but no other damage. I am glad last fall I had 2 "suspect" trees that were too close to the house taken down.

But we are lucky; lots of people in the surrounding area are without power and downed trees are blocking roads, and traffic signals are out. I made the mistake of trying to go out, and wised up about a mile from home, and just turned around and went home. I'll sit here and watch it on tv.

Fortunately, the humidity shouldn't be too high -- accuweather.com for Washington DC These temps with 90% humidity, now that's awful.

A D.C. news outlet has posted a summary of the local status as of a short time ago. It also has a gallery of pics.

http://www.wtop.com/41/2925313/Storms-blast-area-More-weather-coming

Of note, in Virginia, several area's 911 service is out. This is the first I have ever heard of this happening. I would have thought the 911 system would be more robust.

Blew through here and took down half of the tree in my front yard. Driving around today there are still intersections without working lights and many trees down in peoples yards.
People in smaller areas are expected to be without power for up to a week. They say that there are some water pumps without power in the city in places so people are having water shortages.

Am pleased to report that I never lost power - a blessing for which I am EXTREMELY grateful. [ thanks to the powers-that-be way-back-when who directed that my area of the city have underground power lines ]

Am also very gratified to have been a camping-preparedness gearhead the past twenty years. As soon as the winds cranked up I put a Petzl Zipka on my wrist so that I wouldn't be fumbling in the dark in case the power went out (the lights did flicker). Also made sure all the batteries I would need for lights and radio were where they are supposed to be.

http://www.amazon.com/Petzl-E98-ZIPKA-He...rds=petzl+zipka

After lending my Gransfors Bruks 31" American Felling Axe to clear an adjacent street of a large downed branch, a neighbor and I walked around to survey damage, taking special note of the homes of friends we knew were out of town.

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/gransforsbruksamericanfellingaxe35handle.aspx

This survey was made a lot easier thanks to my Fenix TK35 flashlight

http://www.amazon.com/Fenix-TK35-Perform...;keywords=fenix

And I sat out a 3-candle "Candlelier"
http://www.industrialrev.com/candlelier-lantern.html


After walking around the neighborhood early this morning with my dog, I tucked her into the coooooool a/c and loaded my SUV with my big axe (and a GB Swedish Forest Axe), three Aqua-Tainers (7 gal. water containers) and four coolers (Coleman Xtremes and Coleman stainless) and headed out to northern Virginia where several friends were (and are) without power and one was stranded at home because of a very large tree that blocked the road to her cul de sac. Caravanning (aided by the walkie-talkies I keep in my car) with a friend and her four large furry dogs, we drove several miles from her home to find a grocery and lucked out getting there at the same time as an ice delivery truck.

This friend is in a particular pickle because when she loses power not only does she lose a/c and refrigeration but she loses water because she's on a well (this is inside the Beltway). That friend packed up and has relocated for possibly the next week to another friend's vacation home on the Chesapeake Bay.

In driving around northern Virginia today, we were stunned at how many traffic signals were (and still are) out -- on very major roads. Thankfully, the Beltway and I-395 were fine (no traffic lights). We were also surprised how courteous the vast majority of drivers were being. It was tedious going but the roads were going and that was an achievement almost entirely without benefit of any police directing traffic (also a surprise).

Potentially extremely inconvenient (but for the full gas tanks we started the day with) was the dearth of functioning gas stations. Those that were functioning (very few that we saw), there were very long lines stretching onto the streets. News reports this evening have made this phenomenon a major focus. I am now down to a quarter-tank (I ventured off the Interstate on the way home to visit my usual gas service station -- I usually top off in Virginia -- and got caught in major gridlock because of nonworking traffic lights and then got to my gas station to find it had no power and was closed. So I'll pay the ridiculous price at my neighborhood station Sunday morning to top off (50 cents a gallon more than I would pay across the river in Virginia).

Another shocker was our non-functioning cell phones (Verizon and Sprint). We occasionally received a call but could not initiate any calls and could not even get any text messages to go through. Everyone we know was dealing with this. My cell worked fine once I got back to DC.

Another takeaway from this particular event is how many people had no idea this storm was coming. Warnings were issued several hours before as it made its way across Ohio and was on a collision course with DC-VA-MD. But it was Friday evening before a major holiday and it seems fewer people than normal were paying any attention to the news or weather forecasts. I've heard countless stories from friends of being utterly shocked when the winds hit. One was at a pool party and said it was terrifying.

An extraordinarily hot ordinary day which started with forecasts of minimal chance of rain, ended with an historic, deadly storm. The power company left a voice mail this evening that it would take a week before all power is restored.

Gonna be a hot, memorable week for a lot of people.

But thanks to the portable AM-FM radio I lent one of the Virginia friends, she'll be able to hear the latest news reports on what's going on. She said she'd be ordering a radio just as soon as she could get her car out of her cul de sac.

God bless everyone.

Apparently Dominion Power, PEPCO, etc. were really struggling to pull in workers to repair the 1,000,000 plus customers without power here. The devastation of this storm was as widespread as it was severe.

Storms like this are another reason to have a good NOAA WeatherRadio with alerts. My wife and kids rarely pay much attention to the weather reports throughout the day but they go silent and listen when the Midland 300W goes off.

Ironically, I had set aside last night to do my annual go bag inspection. The storm started howling as I was doing it.

after 04/05 hurricane season, one of the programs Craig Fugate initiated down here was to get large grocery retailers and gas stations to have generators on site...

powerring...the 300W has a pretty good alarm siren...TS Debby produced multiple tornado alerts with the SAME localized warning... I like it much better than the 100W I had previously

I have 2 Midland 300Ws, 1 upstairs and 1 downstairs. Thus far it's the best radio I've found in terms of features and the only thing I've found that can make my three little boys come to a full stop and listen when the alarm goes off. If only I had those magical powers. ;-)