Sunday, August 28, 2011

Hurricane Irene Assessment and Response in the Town of Chevy Chase

Dear Neighbors:

The Town staff and Town arborist have completed an evaluation of the damage caused by Hurricane Irene in Town. In addition to multiple power outages, there are a number of trees that fell during the storm. Following is a list of the addresses where trees have fallen and a description of the resulting damage. If residents are aware of any other public trees that have fallen and need to be addressed by the Town, please e-mail townoffice@townofchevychase.org or call the Town Office at 301-654-7144 and leave a message if the office is closed. Town staff are checking messages regularly.

Trees at the following addresses have fallen on primary power lines and must be removed by PEPCO.
-- 4107 Thornapple Street
-- 4102 Oakridge Lane
-- 7105 45th Street
Both Thornapple Street and Tarrytown Road are impassable as a result of these fallen trees or power lines. Both streets have been cordoned off as a result.

Trees at the following addresses have taken down power lines serving individual homes. PEPCO will need to restore these lines as well.
-- 4314 Curtis
-- 4412/4414 Stanford
-- 4104 Woodbine

A tree at 4316 Stanford has fallen but has not affected power lines. The Town's tree contractor will remove this tree tomorrow.

The Town arborist has removed many large branches from Town streets, and the Town's maintenance crews will begin the removal of smaller branches and debris tomorrow. Following this clean up, the Town will have the streets swept.

Please do not to touch any downed wires and report all power outages to PEPCO at 1-888-PEPCO-62. We're also contacting PEPCO to let them know about problems and encourage speedy restoration, but it is very important that you do the same. There are almost 200,000 households without power in the PEPCO service area in Montgomery, Prince George's, and DC, so it will likely take time for all power to be restored.

As I went around the Town this morning, I saw many neighbors already picking up branches and leaves around their homes and want to thank them for their help. I'm also grateful for the good cheer shown by many of our neighbors even as they have experienced fallen trees on their property and a loss of power. Thanks also to the many neighbors who have checked in on people near them who may need help--I hope people will continue to reach out to their neighbors as we recover from this storm.

David Lublin
Mayor, Town of Chevy Chase