Majority of Pr. George's Spared From Sandy's Wrath

There have been reports of flooding, power outages and trees down, but most of Prince George's County was spared Monday night during Superstorm Sandy.

Hurricane Sandy, otherwise known as a superstorm or Frankenstorm, hit the East Coast Monday night around 8 p.m. affecting 12 states and leaving almost 8 million people without power.

Western Maryland and West Virginia saw snow, some parts of the state seeing multiple feet of snow, while Pittsburg, PA saw sleet. Lower Manhattan was flooded closing the subway system and tunnels, while many New York City residents sat in the dark during the storm and a fire in Queens took out nearly 80 homes.

However, New Jersey was the most heavily affected by Sandy— where boardwalks and homes were destroyed by wind and ocean waters and water is still flooding the beach communities.

Although most municipalties were not heavily affected, the city of Laurel received more than a dozen reports of trees down, some on homes. In one of the first incidents in the 7000 block of Contee Road, the tree caused severe damage to the roof, according to fire officials, so the family was displaced, however no other injuries were reported. , but again the family was spared because they were in the basement.

The city of Bowie also reported 10 trees down due to the storm, again no injuries.

In College Park, a tree was blocking the entrance to College Park Woods, according to a city official. The crossing signal at Route 1 and Knox Road was also affected by the wind which twisted it, so the walk signal is not working correctly.

The cities of Greenbelt and Hyattsville and the towns of Riverdale Park and University Park are reporting almost no damage, but some power outages.

As of 1 p.m., more than 6,600 people in Prince George's County were without power— 2,600 Pepco customers and 4,000 Baltimore Gas and Electric customers.

However, one of the bigger concerns for county officials is flooding. The town of Upper Marlboro was reporting that water was rising in its streams Tuesday morning and even closed some roads due to flooding. Fire and police officials also closed roadways in Beltsville due to flooding.

At the Bladensburg waterfront, boats and other floating apparatus was tied up in a parking lot on higher ground. The water rose to the level of the fishing docks overnight, where debris and trash floated.