2 accidents raise US storm, blackout toll to 26

BALTIMORE (AP) ? The Mid-Atlantic region is struggling to get back to normal after deadly, power-cutting storms and sweltering heat.

And the death toll blamed on storms and the ensuing blackout across the eastern U.S. is now at 26 after two accidents in Virginia.

Utility and municipal crews worked through the July 4 holiday to restore power and remove downed tree limbs.

Pepco said it had restored power to 90 percent of those affected by last week's storms in D.C. and two Maryland suburbs, beating its own estimate for getting the lights and more importantly, the air conditioning back on. BGE said about 78,000 customers in central Maryland remained without power.

More than 146,000 Virginia homes and businesses remained without power after, down from a peak of about 1.2 million after the storms.

In New Jersey, Atlantic City Electric said nearly 30,000 homes and businesses were still without service. That's down from about 206,000.

Maryland issued a heat advisory for the entire state for Thursday, after issuing one for parts of the state for Wednesday. Sweaty patrons were enjoying the Capitol Fourth Concert in D.C. Wednesday evening.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-07-04-Summer%20Storms/id-cef6ad0eb95145dd87c56fc038049477

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