CUMBERLAND — Utility crews continued to restore electricity following Saturday’s high winds that left thousands of residents in the dark.
By late Sunday morning, according to Potomac Edison, outages in Allegany County were down to about 1,000 from a high of more than 7,500 Saturday morning. Most of the remaining outages were in the Frostburg area.
There were about 700 without electricity in Garrett County and 720 in Mineral County, West Virginia, after more than 3,300 had been without power earlier Saturday. Most of those were in the Keyser and New Creek areas.
In a statement, Potomac Edison said it hoped to have service restored to those remaining without electricity by Monday evening. “With additional crews on the way to assist in the restoration effort, we hope to have many areas restored sooner,” the statement said.
Volunteer firefighters across both counties were busy clearing trees and checking electrical hazards for most of the day Saturday. A steady stream of emergency calls to the Allegany County 911 center prompted an Emergency Call Mode just after 8 a.m. Firefighters at all stations in the county were called to staff their stations due to the high volume of emergency calls dispatchers were receiving.
Frostburg Fire Department Station No. 1 on South Water Street suffered wind damage to the south end of the structure. Firefighters, including the county structural collapse team, were called there at 8:50 a.m.