Pepco: 38,900 Out of Power in Montgomery, 1,600 in Prince George's

Minutes after a damaging thunderstorm and at least one tornado ripped through the Washington, DC area, thousands are out of power in Montgomery and Prince George's County. 

As of 4:30 p.m. Thursday, 38,900 Pepco customers were out of power in Montgomery and 1,600 were out in Prince George's. 

"The numbers seemed to have jumped in Prince George's in the last five or 10 minutes," said Bob Hainey, spokesman for Pepco. "It looks like Kettering got hit pretty bad, but in Montgomery County it's widespread."

Only 129 people in DC were out of power, by comparison, Hainey said. 

"We're making repairs as we can, as the weather permits." Hainey continued. "What stops us from working is basically high winds—if we don't sustain high winds, then trucks can get out there."

Hainey said first on the agenda, though, is finding and repairing downed wires, which can be energized and dangerous.