DENTON, MD - The Town of Denton is experiencing multiple disruptions as ongoing power outages plague the Caroline County community Thursday during bitter cold conditions.
Just after 9:20 a.m. on January 23, the Denton Police Department announced the power outages were affecting traffic signals and asked neighbors to use caution while driving in the town. Officials were working to resolve the issues as quickly as possible, police said.
The nearby Greensboro Elementary School announced shortly after they were experiencing a power outage and their generator was providing limited heat.
“Given that the power outage is widespread and many of our families’ homes are impacted, we will be keeping the school open and combining classes so everyone is on the first floor, safe and warm,” school officials said in a social media post.
In response to the outages, the Caroline County Government opened a warming station at the General James Fretterd Community Center on 4th Street. Those without power or anyone who needs a safe, warm place to stay are encouraged to visit.
"One of the delegates had reached out and said that some of their constituents had mentioned that residents were sitting in their cars to get warm,” Caroline County Commissioner President Travis Breeding told WBOC. “We elected to open up the center to give them a place to go."
Anyone with a weather-related emergency or who needs assistance is asked to call the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office at 410-479-2515.
Hospital system Shore Regional Health announced they were closing the University of Maryland Shore Medical Pavilion in Denton would be closed for the remainder of January 23. The closing applied to all offices and services, Shore Regional said.
According to Delmarva Power’s outage map, over 1,000 customers are currently affected in the Denton area as of 10:45 a.m.
Denton officials say a surge of energy demand during the frigid temperatures Thursday morning was most likely the initial cause of the outage, at Choptank Electric. Around 8 a.m., a power company crane hit power lines at a Delmarva Power substation, on Camp rd., sparking a fire and further exacerbating the power issues, according to authorities. This affected around 2,500 people in and around the Denton community.
Because of this chain reaction of events, emergency responders were stretched thin. According to the Denton Police Chief, George Bacorn, "There were multiple alarms, fire alarms, burglar alarms. Things like that- that are caused by power outages. It caused traffic lights to go out." He added, "While all that's going on, someone was using our local car wash. It has automatic doors on it, so those doors without power can't raise. So we had a person trapped in there."
Thomas Frankhouser, the Deputy Chief of the Denton Volunteer Fire Company says it was all hands on deck. "We were at the Dollar Tree store. We were at the YMCA. We went to a private residence. So with all the calls coming in, we handled it one at a time but we believe it all to be related back to the power surge."
Early in the morning, business owners says they were a bit confused.
"We were all out front looking at each other, like, 'Do you have lights? Do you have lights?' And everybody was like, no. It started with a flicker," says Tarea Warner, owner of Not a Phase Clothing.
WBOC spoke with multiple neighbors Thursday, who said their power went in and out during the day. With below-freezing temperatures in the area throughout the day, many described how cold their homes became.
"The power kept going off and coming back on. [When you're] Working at nights, you're trying to sleep, and then when the power goes off, it gets real quiet, and then out of nowhere, it comes back on, and there's things beeping all over the house," says homeowner Tarence Bailey.
Jim Adair, a neighbor in Denton, said he was affected by the outages. Luckily for him, he said he had a propane fireplace as a backup.
"A lot of people don't have that convenience, which is unfortunate when the weather goes down like this,” Adair said. “I'm concerned about a lot of the older people that live here."
Adair said, in a neighborly fashion, he offered the warmth of his home to many of his neighbors who were without heat.
"I let some of my neighbors know that I talk to regularly that if they had any problems with heat or being cold they were more than welcome to come over here and hang out in my living room to stay warm,” Adair said. “We all take care of each other around here."
