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Story highlights
NEW: Mayor of Charleston, West Virginia, reports damage after storms
NEW: About 1.7 million people are still without power in 10 states and Washington
The continued power outages are causing traffic headaches and safety concerns
At least 19 people are dead from storms fueled in part by the heat
Even as temperatures ticked down, barely, in some places Monday, frustrations rose for hundreds of thousands still sweating without power days after destructive heat-driven storms hit.
About 1.7 million people scattered from the District of Columbia through 10 states from Indiana to Delaware had no electricity by 8 p.m. Monday.
That was more than half those initially left in the dark Friday night and early Saturday. The total included about 410,000 in West Virginia, 400,000 in Ohio and 340,000 in Virginia. Power and government authorities said some may not get power back until week’s end.
“While I want to thank them for their progress, they need to move faster,” said Mayor Vincent Gray in Washington, where about 43,000 Pepco customers were without power.
“Pepco’s pace of restoring power to me, anyway, is unacceptable. And the speed of their response is disappointing. How many times have we been through this before?”
