GREENWOOD, Del. (WBOC/AP)- Downed utility lines and fallen tree branches on wires left thousands without power after Monday morning's storms rolled through Sussex County, Del., and Wicomico and Worcester counties in Maryland. Some homes and buildings across the region were also damaged by fallen trees and branches.
Delaware Electric Cooperative reports that the outages mostly affected its members in eastern Sussex County, with those in the Angola, Lewes and Millsboro area the hardest hit.
According to the co-op, more than half-a-dozen utility poles were blown down or damaged by strong winds and crews were working to fix the poles and other problems caused by the severe weather.
Choptank Electric Cooperative members in parts of Wicomico and Worcester counties also experienced outages. According to Choptank spokeswoman Anne Whaples, most of the outages were caused by tree branches on power lines brought down by the winds. Most of the members without power were in the Mardela Springs and Salisbury area of Wicomico County and the Berlin area of Worcester County. Crews were working to repair damages.
In addition to the power outages, the storms caused damage to several homes and buildings, in Sussex and Wicomico counties.
Sussex County spokesman Chip Guy said storm winds damaged two storage sheds under construction at a sewage treatment plant between Millsboro and Rehoboth. According to Guy, five workers pouring concrete at the sewage plant narrowly escaped injury, having left the shed they were in just moments before it collapsed from high winds.
There were also reports of a waterspout in Rehoboth Bay that was blamed for the collapse of a deck at the Lighthouse restaurant in Dewey Beach.
Further to the south in Wicomico County, a tree fell on a home on Foskey Lane in Delmar, Md.
There were no reported injuries.
The latest outages come after 20,000 customers lost power from Friday nights' storms. As of Sunday night, Delmarva Power said it was nearing full restoration of power for those affected in New Castle County and Cecil County in Maryland.
A company spokesman said the storm damage was worse than originally thought.
WBOC NewsWatcher Fayette Inman took this photo of a tree that fell on a house in Angola Beach and Estates in Lewes on Monday morning.
Emergency crews are shown inspecting the damage after a tree fell on a home on Foskey Lane in Delmar, Md., on Monday.
A WBOC NewsWatcher took this photo in front of the Lighthouse restaurant in Dewey Beach after Monday morning's storm.
A WBOC NewsWatcher took this photo of the front exterior of the Lighthouse Restaurant in Dewey Beach, which was damaged following Monday morning's storm that rolled through the town.
WBOC NewsWatcher Bill Ward took this photo of Monday morning's storm damage on Camp Arrowhead Road near Lewes.
