A large area of power has been disrupted in between Reisterstown Road to Cross Country Boulevard from Labyrinth Road down to Glen Ave. Most of the area is out of power.

Baltimore County police and fire spokeswoman Elise Armacost said that county officials continue to monitor the local impact of Hurricane Irene from the Emergency Operations Center in Towson, though the preamble to eye of the storm’s arrival has been relatively quiet in the area.

As the storm intensified, fallen trees continued to be the biggest problem.

The county reported road closures due to fallen trees on in the following areas:

• Bowleys Quarters Road at Claire’s Lane and White Pine in Bowleys Quarters;

• Benjies Road near Earls Road in Middle River;

• Warren Road at Ridgeland Road in Cockeysville;

• Holly Neck Road at Back River Neck Road in Essex;

• Bel Air Road at Miller Road near Perry Hall; and

• Bel Air Road and Honeygo Boulevard in Perry Hall.

Earlier, Baltimore County Emergency Management Operations officials reported that a fallen tree at Security Boulevard in Woodlawn was blocking the ramp from Security Boulevard to the inner loop of the Beltway, but later officials said public works crews have made the Security Boulevard on-ramp partially passable.

County officials are reminding people that fallen trees may involve downed power lines; call 911 to report trees and/or wires blocking roadways.

Standing water was also a problem in some areas.

County volunteer fire crews in Middle River and North Point-Edgemere reported some standing water, and flooding made Old Battle Grove Road and Golden Ring Road at North Point Boulevard in Dundalk impassable, with more than two feet of water blocking the road in that area.

The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning for southern Baltimore County – in effect until 12:15 a.m. — due to concerns heavy rains and a storm surge from Hurricane Irene.

The county is operating its emergency shelter at Eastern High School in Essex. Questions related to the shelter may be directed to the Emergency Operations Center Public Inquiry Center at 410-887-5454.

Meanwhile, said Armacost, Baltimore County emergency personnel “are going to be working around the clock like they always are.”

O’Malley discusses response to Irene, updates power outages

In a news conference from MEMA headquarters in Reisterstown on Saturday night, Gov. O’Malley gave an update on the state’s efforts.

O’Malley said the latest count had 158,000 residents across the state without power — include some customers from BGE and some from PEPCO.

On its website, BGE was reporting 112,037 customers without power as of 10:53 p.m. — 16,283 customers without power in Baltimore County and 9,510 in Baltimore City.

(Source: Baltimore Sun / Baltimore Jewish Life)