School Openings Uncertain; Road Closures, Outages Remain Widespread

About half of are without power, more than 50 roads are still closed and three temporary debris drop-off sites have been opened as residents recover from .

During a press conference held at the emergency operations center Monday, County Executive David Craig and other local officials outlined the county's biggest challenges less than 48 hours after the Category 1 storm passed through Maryland.

At the height of the storm, about 53,000 Harford County residents lost power and more than 100 roads were closed, Craig said. More than 30,000 BGE customers in Harford County remained without power as of 3 p.m., Monday.

Additionally, seven residents were hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning—six of them from the same incident—during the storm, Craig said.

Harford County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Tomback said 28 of the county’s 54 schools remained without power on Monday morning.

“We know we have lots and lots of disappointed students and more disappointed parents that schools did not open on time,” Tomback said. “We’ll be able to make a decision later today in regards to what our status is going to be [Tuesday].”

Tomback said decisions on closures will likely be countywide, and not on a school-by-school basis.

of the new school year.

Director of Inspections, Licenses and Permits Richard Lynch said 26 structures have been evaluated since the storm, four of them identified for “major damage” and two of them deemed no longer habitable.

“We still have a lot more evaluations to do,” Lynch said.

County Emergency Manager Rick Ayers urged residents without homeowner’s or flood insurance to call his office at 410-838-5800 or 410-638-4900 with their information.

Craig said one of the primary concerns at this stage is whether the county will receive aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“We were not originally placed on the president’s list, along with several other counties,” Craig said. “Many of the things we’re paying for right now, we’re not sure if we’re going to get reimbursed.”

Craig and Ayers both said they have no idea how much money has been spent so far in response to Hurricane Irene. Ayers said he is “pretty confident” the county will receive FEMA reimbursement.

To help with cleanup, . The Scarboro Road landfill in Street is also open.

“You can’t take a sofa, you can’t take a mattress, you can’t take those type of things, but you can take debris,” Craig said.

The county executive asked residents not to use the MA & PA Heritage trail or any county parks and recreation facilities until they have been evaluated for cleanup and safety precautions.

Intersections with inoperative traffic lights are also a concern, Craig said.

“Act like the old days where you stop at the light and let someone go first before you go through the intersection,” he said. “We may have to shut down left-hand turn lanes to make it a little less confusing.”

Residents who need help with medical equipment should visit conference room, Chief Bill Snyder said in an email.

Ayers said he Department of Public Works is clearing trees as fast as possible and that damage was not concentrated in any specific area.

“It’s sporadic all through the county,” Ayers said. “But DPW crews can’t do their job until the power companies take care of the wires.”

In an email release Monday morning, BGE officials said they expect to restore power to all customers by late Friday or early Saturday.

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