Community Corner

How Will Hurricane Sandy Affect Your Monday?

Federal offices and circuit courts are closed, public school classes have been canceled and early voting centers are closed. Pepco and BGE have called in extra help.

All weekend you've been preparing for Hurricane Sandy's arrival and overnight the storm will make its way to Maryland.

NWS issued a flood watch through Tuesday with predictions of heavy rainfall and 4 to 6 inches of rain.

So how will the storm affect you?

Find out what's happening in Laurelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A number of offices have closed Monday:

  • Prince George's County Public School were set to be closed for students on Monday for a teacher planning day before Sandy's threat, but now the district is running on code yellow. All schools and offices are closed and only emergency personnel must report to work. All activities are cancelled. 
  • Prince George's County Circuit Court and District Court offices are closed.
  • Federal offices in the Washington area are closed Monday, the Office of Personnel Management announced Sunday. Non-emergency employees will be granted administrative leave.
  • All county offices are also closed Monday except for essential personnel.

County officials are asking that residents stay off the roadways— which won't be difficult since WMATA and MARC have suspended all of their services Monday. TheBus' service has also been suspended.

Find out what's happening in Laurelwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

County trash and recycling pickup on Monday has also been cancelled. Residents are asked to move their trash cans indoors.

Officials stated the two biggest threats to residents are power outages and flooding with Gov. Martin O'Malley calling Sandy a "killer storm."

"Citizens are reminded that this storm could cause significant rainfall, flooding, high-winds and power outages," the county website stated.

Prince George's County residents should sign up for Notify Me Prince George's alerts. The county's Office of Emergency Management is also avaialble to answer questions about the storm at 311. The line will be open from 7 a.m. to midnight on Monday.

Pepco said it had activated all its field personnel including utility crews from states as far away as Alabama and Louisiana.

“Pepco has committed all its resources to Hurricane Sandy," a company statement said. It called Sandy a storm of "enormous proportions" expected to inflict extensive damage to the electric system.

“Because of the magnitude of the storm, we will not be issuing estimated restoration times until the storm has passed and a preliminary damage assessment has been conducted,” said the statement.

To report an outage or downed wire call Pepco’s Call Center at 1-877-PEPCO-62 (1-877-737-2662), and the company warned residents not to go near downed lines.

Officials have offered up a number of safety tips for residents and have asked residents to avoid flooded streets and roadways during the storm.

A high wind warning will remain in affect through Tuesday — with a prediction of sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph starting around 8 a.m. Monday. The winds are forecasted to increase around noon to 35 to 45 mph, NWS said.

Hurricane Sandy's arrival will being along wind gusts of 60 to 70 mph and last through the early morning hours of Tuesday.

NWS states that residents should be wary of significant tree damage.

Here's the short term weather report:

  • Tonight: Rain is in the forecast with a low around 48. It'll be windy at 18 to 26 mph from the north with gusts up to 40 mph. The chance of precipitation is 100 percent with less than an inch of rain.
  • Monday: There's 100 percent chance of rain in the forecast with a high near 51. Two to three inches of rain is possible with a north wind of 30 to 39 mph, gusts up to 65 mph. 
  • Monday Night: It's forecasted to rain heavily at night with 2 to 3 more inches of rain predicated. Lows will be around 40 with a north wind of 41 to 44 mph. Winds gusts could be as high as 65 mph.

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