The power came back on for many of them, for the first time in five days.
After five days without power there is only one word to describe how Arnold Fainman is feeling today.
"Relief," Fainman said. "Relief that I can finally get back to a normal life."
Fainman is readjusting his thermostat and checking out his lights for the first time since Sunday's storm.
The two surrounding townhouse buildings in his Bethesda community had their power restored Wednesday.
"It's been a disaster," Fainman said. "It's been very, very difficult. Pepco just told stories. They didn't tell the truth and they left 16 families displaced for too long."
Just a couple of miles away, a Pepco crew converged on one street for the second time in 16 hours. Crews didn't have the right equipment yesterday to get the power back online.
So, the people in 15 houses suffered through another night of no electricity.
"I'm sure they had other tasks and other jobs to attend," Syed Abbas said."But I just think five days delay is not acceptable. Not in the USA."
Abbas, his wife, and three children have been staying with friends since last weekend.
Mid morning today, his power came back on. He'll be able to move his family back in.
"I come from Pakistan originally. There are a lot of things wrong with that country, but they get the power fixed in a days time. MAX," he said with a big laugh.
