According to CNN-Large swaths of the Midwest
and Mid-Atlantic dug out Saturday hours after killer thunderstorms barreled
through, a recovery made more complicated and dangerous
by intense summer heat.At least 12 people, from Ohio to New Jersey, were
killed as a result of downed trees and power lines. The destruction prompted
the governors of Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio to declare states of
emergency, with Maryland indicating it would do the same."This is on par
with Hurricane Irene," said Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, referring to
last year's storm that was blamed for at least 20 deaths across eight
states.Neighboring Virginia was particularly hard hit, with six deaths. At one
point, the Old Dominion State had about 1 million power outages -- more than
any other state and, according to its governor, the most caused by any weather
event that wasn't a hurricane."This is not a one-day situation; it is a multi-day
challenge," Gov. Bob McDonnell said.Joseph Rigby, president of the
electric company Pepco, said it could be a week before power is back up in some
areas of Washington."Given the damage, you can understand this is going to
take some time," he said. "The wild card is the weather."
The storms raced east Friday
and into Saturday from Indiana through Ohio and into West Virginia and the
nation's capital, carrying winds gusting as strong as 80 miles per hour.They
left behind hundreds of downed power lines and trees that littered roads and
damaged homes."This was a storm that obviously came upon us very quickly,
without a great deal of notice, and the devastation that was caused is very
significant," New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said, noting there's a
particular need for fuel, generators and communications equipment in light of
the storms.Nearly 4 million people were without power across the affected
states at one point Saturday, a number that dropped by the end of the night to
around 3 million.Those killed included two cousins in New Jersey, ages 2 and 7,
who'd huddled with their families in a tent in Parvin State Park when strong
winds felled a pine tree, crushing them. Their relatives all survived
relatively unscathed, said Larry Ragonese, a spokesman for New Jersey's
Department of Environmental Protection.