Strong area storms cause severe damage, power outages

WASHINGTON - Strong storms rolled through the D.C. area Thursday afternoon, leaving severe damage and power outages in some areas.

Annandale, Virginia was hit hard during the afternoon as several large trees toppled onto homes. A man on the second floor of his house was trapped after a tree fell and split his home in half. A neighbor said firefighters had to get the man out through a window because the stairwell was crushed. He was not injured.

Residents at the Heritage Woods Condos in Annandale, Virginia had to be evacuated after a large tree smashed through the roof. Three condominiums were condemned. There were no reported injuries at the complex.

An Arlington, Virginia homeowner had a close call as a large oak tree fell and grazed the chimney of a home and into the driveway in the 1400 block of Wakefield Street. Luckily, there were no cars in the driveway.

An apartment building on Stanton Road in Southeast, D.C. had the roof blown off due to the damaging winds.

Gusty winds tore part of the roof off St. Aloysius Church on the campus of Gonzaga College High School on North Capitol Street NW.

Strong winds also caused damage in the Centerville and Fairfax areas and tree debris led to road closures in the area.

Down by the Tidal Basin trees were snapped in half, and branches filled the roads.

Some areas experienced power outages as Dominion Virginia reported 15,743 customers without power as of Thursday afternoon. Pepco was reporting 1,130 customers without power in D.C., 156 in Prince George's County and 1,389 in Montgomery County.

BGE said there were 1,176 customers without power in Prince George's County, 304 people in Anne Arundel County and 162 customers in Howard County.

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue want all residents to know that downed power lines can be extremely dangerous. They say never try to remove a downed power line.

At the end of the storms, a beautiful rainbow appeared in many neighborhoods.