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Pepco struggles to restore power to all neighborhoods following severe storms

At one point, more than 230,000 people in the D.C. area were without power.

HYATTSVILLE, Md. — Hundreds of Pepco crews are still struggling to return power to thousands of homes in Prince George's after Tuesday's nasty storm.

But there's good news in at least one Hyattsville neighborhood. You could hear the screams of joy up and down Redoak Dr. when they got the power back on Thursday afternoon.

"So friggin' happy!" one guy yelled out his door.

Electrician Manuel Chavez said he felt helpless as he, his dogs and his daughter have all sweltered through two nights in their home without power. 

"It's terrible," he said. "Too hot, couldn't sleep last night." 

Lisa Daniels called WUSA9, concerned about some of the seniors in the neighborhood who were trapped in hot houses. When we met up with her, she showed us the Pepco outage map on her map -- 21,083 customers were still being impacted. 

"This is a wonderful community," she said. "Many elderly persons. I just wonder are they ok." 

Retired from Howard University at 64, Winston Henry counts himself a senior. He decamped for a hotel after he heard what sounded like a "sonic boom" blow throw Tuesday night and his A/C went out.

"It's been very terrible," Henry said. "There's no estimated time for power to come back on now." 

But about an hour after a Pepco truck rolled through, the community saw a miracle: power was restored. Now, the neighborhood is focused on cleaning up. 

"People have lost their groceries, including entire refrigerators and freezers," Daniels said. 

Chavez noted he had just spent $300 on food, nearly all of which he had to throw out. 

On Thursday afternoon, Pepco's outage map showed there are still scattered outages across Prince George's and Montgomery Counties. But Pepco says it's restored power to the vast majority of its customers and hopes to get everybody else back on soon.

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