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The nation’s capital was on high alert on Monday as powerful storms moved into the area, bringing strong winds and rains, as forecasters warned about tornadoes.
Federal office workers were sent home early out of caution, while concertgoers at Nationals Park sheltered under eaves to wait out the rain.
At various points throughout the day,more than 50,000 customers of Dominion Virginia were without power, according to NBC Washington.
People battling storm conditions in Washington DC on Monday
“It’s like the Fourth of July with lightning strikes popping off in every direction,” NBC4 photographer Nick Leimbach said of conditions in Northern Virginia around 5.30 local time.
The storms caused dramatic images like dark clouds about the Capitol and Washington Monument.
The weather also caused the White House to move up President Biden’s departure on a four-day tour of Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico by 90 minutes, according to the Associated Press.
The National Weather Service warned earlier in the day that, “There is a significant threat for damaging and locally destructive hurricane-force winds, along with the potential for large hail and tornadoes, even strong tornadoes.”
As the day progressed, despite tornado warnings and the first Level 4 severe storm alert for the DC area in about a decade, no tornadoes were confirmed to have touched down thus far, and the weather system is now moving east towards the Chesapeake Bay, giving Washington likely respite come Tuesday.
Winds did reach up to 60mph in some locations, according to The Washington Post.
As of 7.45pm, about 1,800 people were without power in Maryland’s Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, while 40,000 lacked electricity in Carroll County, per the Post. Meanwhile, in Virginia, 12,500 were without power and in Loudoun County and 20,000 suffered outages in Fairfax County.
The inclement weather in Washington was part of a series of storms battering the East Coast.
Thousands of flights were delayed in the storms, as more than 800,000 lost power across 11 states, ABC News reports.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued ground stops at major East Coast airpots like JFK, Newark, Philadelphia, and Atlanta.
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- Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/washington-dc-storm-rain-tornado-b2389200.html
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- Source: https://zephyrnet.com/thousands-without-power-as-storms-bear-down-on-washington-dc/