Chabad-Lubavitch of Owings Mills, Md., became an emergency office for area residents after severe thunderstorms felled 250 trees and knocked out power and communication lines.

According to the Baltimore Jewish Times, the July 26 nighttime storms hit Owings Mills and nearby Reisters with straight-line winds, darkening thousands of homes in the space of a square mile.

Rabbi Nochum H. Katsenelenbogen, director of the Chabad House, told the paper that the center briefly lost power, but suffered no damage.

“Once our power was back on, we decided to make our space available to residents who had no telephone or Internet access,” he said. “A few people did take us up on that offer to set up a mini-office here.”

Another synagogue and a Jewish camp suffered some damage as a result of the storms. …