A large-scale power outage has knocked out electricity to roughly 1.9 million customers across Maryland, prompting state and local officials to recommend that residents prepare a three-day emergency water supply as restoration work gets underway.
An outage of this size affects well over half of the state’s households and businesses. Readers in the affected area may notice darkened traffic signals, closed gas stations and grocery stores, non-working ATMs and card readers, and spotty cell service as tower backup batteries drain. Homes on municipal water systems may see reduced water pressure if pumping stations lose power, which is one reason officials are emphasizing stored water.
What to do right now
Officials’ three-day water guidance works out to about one gallon per person per day for drinking and basic hygiene. Beyond that, a few practical steps matter in a widespread outage:
Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed; a full freezer holds safe temperatures for about 48 hours if unopened. Discard perishable food that has been above 40°F for more than two hours. If you use a generator, run it outdoors and at least 20 feet from windows and doors — carbon monoxide poisoning is one of the leading causes of death in major outages. Check on elderly neighbors and anyone using powered medical equipment, and report downed power lines to your utility rather than approaching them.
Traffic lights that are out should be treated as four-way stops. Expect restoration to come in phases, with hospitals and critical infrastructure prioritized first; full restoration after an outage affecting nearly two million customers can take days depending on the cause and the extent of equipment damage.
Outage figures and official guidance are drawn from Maryland emergency management officials and utility outage reporting, with supporting weather context from the National Weather Service (NWS).
Frequently Asked Questions
How long until power is restored?
Utilities typically restore critical facilities first, then work outward to neighborhoods; with 1.9 million customers affected, full restoration could take several days. Check your utility's outage map for estimates specific to your address.
Why are officials telling people to store water?
Water treatment plants and pumping stations need electricity, so a prolonged outage can reduce water pressure or interrupt service. The recommendation is about one gallon per person per day for three days.
Is this outage connected to a geomagnetic storm?
There is no indication at this time that space weather is the cause; outages of this scale are most often driven by severe weather or equipment failures on the grid. NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center has not flagged a damaging geomagnetic storm in connection with this event.
Is my food still safe to eat?
A closed refrigerator keeps food safe for about four hours, and a full freezer for about 48 hours. When in doubt, throw out perishables that have been warm for more than two hours.
Keep tracking this:
Source: The Cool Down
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Sky & Solar Conditions at the Time
Moon: Waxing Gibbous (80% illuminated), in Pisces.
Notable planetary angles: Mercury square Jupiter (88°), Mars trine Saturn (123°), Sun conjunct Venus (4°), Moon trine Venus (124°).
Concurrent space weather: planetary Kp index 3.7; strongest recent solar flare: nothing notable.
This is a factual snapshot, not a claim of cause and effect – researchers are divided on whether lunar, planetary or solar factors influence seismic or weather activity. It’s included so readers can track the pattern for themselves over time.
