Power Outages Dot East Coast

Doing fine here in Atlanta, but other places on the East Coast are not as lucky.

Utility crews untangled downed power lines and tree limbs Sunday, working to get the electricity turned back on for millions of people facing a second day of 100-degree temperatures without modern conveniences like air conditioning and refrigeration.

“Unlike a polite hurricane that gives you three days of warning, this storm gave us all the impact of a hurricane without any of the warning of a hurricane,” Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley said.

With the power out, authorities also warned people to be careful when using generators and candles to help light darkened homes.

The bulk of the storm damage was in West Virginia, Washington and the capital’s Virginia and Maryland suburbs.

Plane Causes Washington D.C. Buildings to Evacuate

A New Years Day surprise in Washington D.C. today.

The U.S. Capitol and all Senate and House buildings were briefly evacuated Saturday after air traffic controllers lost radio contact with a Piedmont flight from Hilton Head, S.C. to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Homeland Security was interviewing the pilots Saturday afternoon after their plane strayed into restricted airspace and forced that brief evacuation.

A Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman tells WTOP the flight in question was Piedmont 4352.

U.S. Capitol Police spokewoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider says the plane entered restricted airspace heading toward the U.S. Capitol around 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

The flight temporarily went out of radio contact with the air traffic controllers, the FAA says.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command scrambled jets after contact was lost.

Contact with the flight was reestablished, the evacuation was called off and the flight landed at Reagan National.

U.S. Capitol Police send House staffers the following e-mail to evacuate Saturday:

• An unauthorized aircraft has entered restricted air space.
• Evacuate immediately the Capitol, CHOB, LHOB and RHOB buildings.
• Remain calm and move in a safe manner to the exits.
• Close doors behind you, but do not lock. Avoid using elevators.
• Proceed south to an alternate assembly area.
• Check-in with your Office Emergency Coordinator at the alternate assembly area.
• Ford Building personnel remain inside the Ford building.

Piedmont is a wholly owned subsidiary of US Airways. Airline spokeswoman Tina Swail says the airline is working with local authorities to investigate the incident.