Potomac resident Shawn Farid was one of many who enjoyed a sunny afternoon at the C&O Canal last Friday. “There’s no electricity, so why stay home?” Farid said.
As a result of the damage wreaked by Hurricane Isabel, much of the region was without power. According to Pepco, 219,000 customers, of 286,000 lost power in Montgomery County alone. As of Sept. 23 at 4 p.m., that number was down to 45,000, according to Pepco’s website.
Workers were out in force, with Pepco calling in crews from as far away as Detroit and Atlanta.
Montgomery County also got in on the effort, with some employees putting in heroic amounts of hours. “I’ve been working since 6 a.m. yesterday,” said Steve Firtag cheerfully on Friday afternoon. Firtag, an employee of Montgomery County’s Department of Public Works and Transportation, had been engaged in storm preparation. In the aftermath, he was cutting down trees which had fallen on power lines.
The federal government closed, which means a flurry of private businesses which tie their closing days to the feds were also closed.
In Potomac Village, Strosniders was one of the few businesses that opened, relying on a generator to power the cash registers and some lighting. Employees had to lead customers through the darkened store, but most people who came in were looking for the one thing the store didn’t have — batteries.
Pete McClosky, general manager of Strosniders, said that not only was the store out of batteries, but their suppliers were as well. “There’s just no batteries in the Mid-Atlantic,” McClosky said.
Traffic lights were out across much of the region; Montgomery County police were on hand to direct traffic at some of the larger intersections.
Most people who were out seemed to take the problems in stride. Montgomery County Public Schools were closed on Thursday and Monday, giving many Potomac-area students, who had a day off after the late August storm, a second and third day off in the first month of school. “I don’t mind it, as long as we get nice weather the day after,” said Peter Hurd, 8.
Students had not been scheduled to attend classes on Friday, so that closure did not affect the children’s schedule.
Hurd was enjoying Friday morning sitting at one of the tables in Potomac Village with his mother and brothers. The Hurds were also without power and were considering their options. “We were just discussing, maybe we should go on a camping trip,” said Lucy Hurd.