High Winds Cause Outages, Downed Wires

With much of the region under a wind advisory Friday afternoon, Pepco was reporting 1,234 customers out of power in the 20812, 20816 and 20818 zip codes shortly before 4p.m.  98 were affected in 20817 and 282 were affected in 20814.

A National Weather Service high wind warning is in effect through 7p.m., with gusts expected to be around 60 miles per hour in the late afternoon and evening hours.

Pepco has called in extra crews, but  "what happens is as we're restoring people, the winds are knocking more people out," said spokesman Bob Hainey.

Driving around Bethesda was tricky in some spots in the late afternoon as large debris like garbage cans and boxes blew into traffic.  Montgomery County Fire and Rescue reported a tree limb on wires on MacArthur Boulevard, and downed wires on MacArthur, Old Stage and Sangamore.

Residents took to Twitter to report downed trees and traffic lights out. Patch is hearing reports of a downed tree near Hawthorne and Woodmont and traffic signals out on Massachusetts Avenue near Little Falls Parkway.

MCFRS is advising residents not to touch downed wires. If you see a downed wire, call Pepco at 202-872-3432 to report it. If it's a life-threatening situation, contact MCFRS.