LOOK: Silver Spring Wet, But Not Bruised After Sandy

Silver Spring was back in business, but not necessarily back to work, Tuesday following the worst of Hurricane Sandy. At its peak, the storm knocked out power to , with a significant number of Silver Spring homes affected. 

Residents reflecting on the hurricane concluded that it could have been worse.

“It really hasn’t been that bad,” said Peter Baran, of downtown Silver Spring. He and his wife Karen got the day off Tuesday.

“Its been very rainy, very windy, but we haven’t seen much more than a couple branches down,” he continued.

The Barans' power managed to stay on through the high winds, despite gusts that sometimes reached 70 mph in some parts of Silver Spring Monday night.

“It flickered a couple of times,” Peter explained. “By the time I started to light a candle it would come back on. Maybe a grand total of about 30 seconds we lost power.”

Sisters Kate Callahan and Brigitte Connell braved the storm at Kate’s apartment in downtown Silver Spring.

“We didn’t prepare!” Connell said. “My husband was like, ‘There’s a head lamp,’ like a hiking head lamp thing. We had a few gallons of water for the dog.”

They said they were relieved when the power in Callahan’s building stayed on and the downtown Qdoba stayed open.

Callahan said her wall and window leaked a little, but otherwise she said she didn’t sustain any damage.

“I feel like we’re really fortunate,” she said. “We haven’t been hit that bad.”