by Geoff Fox
A powerful storm rolled through the West Virginia and Maryland Saturday night, April 19, leaving thousands without power and numerous trees and power lines on the ground.
According to First Energy, out of out of 54,447 customers in Washington County, 5,940 were without power as of Monday morning. In Hancock, there were 408 out 2,150 customers and Big Pool 69 out of 510 customers.
The estimated time of full restoration was Wednesday night, April 23, around 11 p.m.
Across the river in Morgan County, out of 10,939 customers, 1,594 were with out power, the majority (1,407) was in Berkeley Springs.
Fulton County had 984 out of 6,373 customers without power following the storm. The Needmore area (Belfast Township) had 62 of 307 First Energy customers without power. The Warfordsburg area (Bethel Township) had 165 out of 879 customers without power.
Social media posts showed pictures of fallen trees across roads and vehicles in the Hancock area.
With power out in the Hancock area, Martha’s House on Main Street was open to allow for people to come in for breakfast and lunch, as well as to play games and watch TV.
The northern entrance to War Memorial Hospital was closed off due to storm damage on Fairview Drive in Berkeley Springs. EMS could not take emergency patients to the hospital over the single access road, blocked by poles and electric lines.
The hospital was on diversion, meaning patients with emergency needs were taken to other hospitals in the region on Saturday night and Sunday.
On Monday, drivers were allowed to use one lane to reach the hospital.
Hagerstown saw serious damage from the same storm, where winds ripped off rooftops and caused trees to fall, taking down power lines and damaging structures.