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Community Corner

Hampden and Woodberry Residents Left in the Dark

Many residents west of Falls Road are still waiting for power.

Parts of Hampden and Woodberry were still without power Monday afternoon, more than 24 hours after the worst of Hurricane Irene passed through the area, and it was beginning to upset some residents. 

They're not alone.

There are still about 54,000 residents without power in Baltimore city, according to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's office.

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Goldie McCourry said this is the longest she can recall power being out at her house in the 1300 block of West 37th Street since she moved there in 55 years ago.

McCourry said BGE used to give out dry ice to preserve food. But this time the utility said they didn’t have the budget. Because of the power outage McCourry and her son Steve had to throw away $150 worth of food.

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“There’s no sense in all this,” Goldie McCourry said. “They sure want a lot of money for power bills, so why can’t they pay for our dry ice?”

The McCourrys said they’re scared about someone breaking into the house. Steve McCourry said he is afraid to go to work and leave his mother home alone if power is still out.

For Carol Cook, who lives on Cook Street, said the power outages were also crippling her ability to earn a living. 

Cook said the factory where she works is indefinitely without power.

“[I’m] sure not getting paid for these missed days” she said.

Some business owners were taking a more relaxed view of the power outages.

on Falls Road remained open even though power was out.

Rachel Whang, an owner of Atomic Books, said they could operate fine with manual credit card swiping. But said sales have been hampered by the storm's aftermath.

“There’s really no business, because people are occupied with not having electricity and dealing with all that,” Whang said.

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