Winds knock out power in area

Updated, 12:43 p.m.:

Pepco, Dominion, and BG&E have restored power to most homes in the region. There were less than 1,000 outages reported in the area as of 12:45 p.m.

Original Post:

Strong winds apparently helped knock out electricity Saturday to thousands of homes and businesses in the Washington region.

As of late Saturday night, almost 10,000 homes and businesses in the District and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs were without power. About 7,000 of them were in the area served by Pepco.

BG&E, which serves much of Maryland said that during the course of the day about 12,000 customers lost service. The large majority had been restored by about 10 p.m.

Winds gusted to 40 miles an hour and above throughout much of the region before diminishing Saturday night.

Reagan National Airport reported high winds of 32 miles an hour and a 47 mph gust. A gust of more than 50 miles an hour was reported in Baltimore.

--Martin Weil