Tuesday, August 28, 2012
The Mid-Atlantic may not be in the crosshairs now, but the hurricane season is far from over.
As local residents mark the one-year anniversay of Hurricane Irene's brush with the Mid-Atlantic region—and as newly-minted Hurricane Isaac churns toward the northern Gulf Coast—now's as good a time as any to revisit some tips for storm preparedness. College Park was spared the worst of Irene, which wreaked havoc up and down the Eastern seaboard. But the 2012 hurricane season is far from over, and some precationary measures shouldn't wait until a storm is imminent. Just before Irene arrived last year, Patch spoke with David Milligan—College Park chair of the Citizen Corps Council—about ways to prepare. He offered the following pre-storm tips: The National Hurricane Center also has a long list of pointers and resources available for storm …
Monday, March 12, 2012
If a fierce storm comes through this year, will you be ready?
It wasn't so long ago that College Park was preparing for Hurricane Irene, along with much of the rest of the eastern part of the country. Our city's own David Milligan, of the Citizen Corp Council, shared some of his best tips for storm preparedness. Among them: Take some extra cash out of your account, in case the power (and thus, ATM machines) goes out; clear your gutters; and fill up your gas tank. Luckily, most of us were over prepared, as College Park wasn't impacted badly, and there were no serious injuries. That said, water was a little high and houses were a bit beaten up. Proteus Bicycles lost a window. Pepco got verbally abused on Twitter. Some University of Maryland students--back in College Park for their first weekend--were a…
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Here's the second edition of the most read stories on College Park Patch in 2011.
Three of the top 10 most clicked-on stories on College Park Patch in 2011 were about the new bar, The Barking Dog. But the next 10 most clicked-on stories include a good mix of topics. We got your business (Bobby's Burger Palace), your politics (2011 city elections) and a video tour of The Varsity student housing high-rise, when it was still a work in progress. Also making the top 20 most-read posts this year was a live blog as the University of Maryland and Duke basketball game unfolded (riot-free), a video of local reactions to the death of Osama bin Laden and a blog about Hurricane Irene as it moved closer to Maryland. Check out those stories and others in the second edition of the most-read stories on College Park Patch in 2011. You …
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
College Park employee mends damages and cleans floor for local businesses after Hurricane Irene.
Jill DiMauro wasn’t sure what to expect as she rushed from her home in Baltimore to her bike shop in College Park. It was the Sunday morning after Hurricane Irene passed through the area, and a former employee called to tell her that the front window of her Proteus Bicycles shop was shattered. “You could just lean in and take thousands of dollars worth of bikes. I thought I’d get here and it’d be empty,” DiMauro said. But by the time DiMauro arrived at the bike shop around 10:40 a.m., not only was all the merchandise still in the store but a team of locals was guarding the shattered window. The glass was cleaned up, and the gaping hole in the front of the shop was boarded. “It was 80 percent done,” DiMauro said. Among the do-gooders was …
Sunday, September 4, 2011
News highlights from Aug. 28 to Sept. 2.
Last week can be summarized in by a couple words: Irene and Pepco. If you haven't checked it out yet, your local Patches kept up a live blog Sunday morning as details of Hurricane Irene aftermath unfolded. There were many downed trees -- some on houses -- and lots of power outages. Local public safety officials reported that there were no serious injuries in College Park, however. Throughout the week, Patch followed as power surged, or trickled, back for College Park customers following the storm. Sunday morning, college students woke up to no restaurants open for breakfast, and businesses that were losing foot traffic because of the power outage. The afternoon following the storm, Pepco said it didn't know when power would be restored to …
Friday, September 2, 2011
Gazette: Earthquake, hurricane highlight need for better communication between parents and school system.
Parents said that communication from the Prince George's County Public School system could have been better following the 5.8-magnitude earthquake Aug. 23 and Hurricane Irene, reports the Gazette. The school system used its Twitter account (@PGCPS), Facebook page and website. The Gazette reports that the school system also used its TV station and automated calls. County school spokesman Briant Coleman told The Gazette and Patch that the patience of parents throughout the irregular schedule of the first week of school was a testament to the community. "Everyone has maintained calm and has been patient and that speaks volumes to the community as a whole," he told Patch. Coleman also told Patch this week that the evacuation of students …
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Mini-bites of news to start your morning.
1. Gymkana After a ring of fire misstep in Tuesday night's America's Got Talent semifinals, the University of Maryland's Gymkana troupe was eliminated from the competition in Wednesday's results show. 2. Pepco Power Outages Pepco announced on its website Wednesday that nearly all customers have had their power restored following Hurricane Irene. As of midnight, the Pepco outage map showed there were still 20 customers in the College Park, Riverdale Park and Greenbelt areas reporting outages. The electric company maintains that all power will be restored by the end of the day Thursday. 3. Civil War On this day in 1864, Atlanta fell to Union forces in one of the most decisive battles of the Civil War. 4. The Jerk Pit Today's Featured …
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
The stream between Paint Branch Trail and U.S. Route 1 was fast and deep on Sunday, Aug. 28, after Hurricane Irene moved up the coast of Maryland, bringing tropical storm conditions and almost 24-hours worth of rain inland to College Park, Md.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Clean up your yard following Hurricane Irene.
Driving through the area Sunday morning, there was more to look at besides cracked trees and wet roads. Lots of yards were littered with tree limbs and branches following the tropical storm from Hurricane Irene. Prince George's County residents may drop off their debris for free at the following collection sites Aug. 30 through Sept. 4 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Storm-related yard waste can be no larger thans 5 feet long and 10 inches in diameter. Residents must be able to prove county residency when entering the facility. Brown Station Road Sanitary Landfill, 11611 White House Road in Upper Marlboro Residential vehicles allowed to dispose of their storm-related yard waste include pick-up trucks, passenger vans, SUVs, sedans and other passenger…
Public safety officials say weekend was relatively quite.
College Park fared better than what was expected from the tropical storm passing through the area over the weekend, and there were no serious injuries reported, according to public safety officials. “Last night was nice and quiet,” Lieutenant Robert Mueck of the University of Maryland Department of Public Safety said on Sunday morning after the storm. He said most people seemed to stay in late Saturday night, as the outskirt of Hurricane Irene went through College Park. “It was almost like a ghost town,” he said. In addition to few people being on the streets, the hurricane was downgraded from a Category 3 storm on Thursday to Category 1 by the time it went over the east coast of Maryland, with less intense wind speeds. “We certainly fared…
Shannon Hoffman
1:45 pm on Thursday, December 29, 2011
Aw shucks. Thanks! more ›