Larry,
Doorlink's mother asked the same thing. A score of people dead, tree million with no power, in the middle of a record heat wave, the capitol brought to a standstill, and she said "Oh, did something happen, Dear? I hadn't heard!"
Long story short, a line of thunderstorms developed in Iowa, grew in strength as they crossed Illinois, and was a full fledged weather event by the time they hit Indiana. Hurricane force winds along a two hundred mile wide line, they rolled over Ohio and West Virginia, and gathered force as they came over the mountains, heading straight for Baltimore, DC, and Virginia. Biggest non-hurricane weather event ever to hit the Atlantic coast. It was incredible going through: lightning, winds, the huge sycamore in our back yard exploded. The sky, lit by constant lightning, turned that strange shade of dark green I've only previously seen in tornadoes.
Days later, most are still without power. It's hard to drive, since many traffic lights are still out. Cell phone service is spotty at best, since so many towers are down. It's tough finding open stores and gas stations. Just finding an auto parts store was an adventure today...
It reminds me most of being in a southern city, after a major hurricane went through...
Thanks,
Bill