This story was updated at 10:15 a.m. on July 2, 2021, to include details about damage that occurred in Takoma Park
Thunderstorms with heavy rain, hail and wind brought down trees and power lines in Montgomery County on Thursday.
The storms left thousands without power and hit Bethesda and Chevy Chase particularly hard.
A condominium building in the 1800 block of East West Highway in Chevy Chase was damaged when a large tree fell on it, displacing residents from five units, Montgomery County Fire & Rescue spokesman Pete Piringer said in a video. No one was injured, he said.
ICYMI (~2p 7/1) building evacuated several people displaced, East West Highway in Silver Spring https://t.co/GFyxU2tQjN
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) July 1, 2021
A tree also fell on a house in the 7000 block of Meadow Lane in Chevy Chase, but no one was injured, Piringer posted on Twitter.
Other areas that experienced damage from the storms included Cedar Lane and Locust Avenue in Bethesda, where utility poles were damaged and wires came down. Some wires were burning, according to Piringer.
Update – Locust Av off W Cedar Av BLOCKED damaged utility poles, wires down, & Locust Av near Acacia Ave/Linden Av off Alta Vista Av, damaged utility pole, live wires down/burning, power out in area https://t.co/yuid0rTrAg pic.twitter.com/z3iwfJZfsU
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) July 1, 2021
At 2:15 p.m. on Thursday, around the time of the storms, 5,025 customers were without power in Bethesda, Pepco spokesman Sean Matthews told Bethesda Beat.
As of 10 a.m. Friday, 794 Pepco customers were without power, according to the utility’s outage map.
A second round of storms swept through the D.C. region Thursday night, bringing down trees in Takoma Park. On Sherman Avenue a large tree fell, taking down several power lines and causing an electrical fire, Piringer posted on Twitter. Nearby residents were evacuated.
Takoma Park, MD, (530a) Sherman Avenue between Carroll Avenue and Maple Avenue, large tree crashed down & brought down live powerlines & resulted in multiple spot fires, several people evacuated from their homes due to the live powerlines and debris field from the downed tree https://t.co/NKrJzP6Sgl pic.twitter.com/2PCndpiYRq
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) July 2, 2021
Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Jason Blake said in a video Friday morning that firefighters extinguished the fires and there were no reported injuries. But he said homes on Sherman Avenue and surrounding streets would likely not have power for a “long duration.”
“These older trees come down once the soil gets really saturated,” he said.
Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@bethesdda-remix.newspackstaging.com