Toby’s Homemade Ice Cream trying to serve its stock of soon-to-be-melted ice cream on Saturday evening (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Armed Robbery at Bluemont Safeway — “At approximately 8:45 p.m., police were dispatched to the Safeway in the 5100 block of Wilson Boulevard for the report of an armed robbery. Upon arrival, officers determined that a man and a woman entered the store, [placed] merchandise into a shopping cart and attempted to leave without paying. Police said an employee confronted the pair and the man then struck the employee with the shopping cart and brandished a knife.” [WJLA]
ACPD Warns of Bitcoin Scams — A large Arlington County Police Department sign next to a bitcoin ATM at the Giant store in Penrose warns of various scams that coerce the victim into putting money into the machine. [Threads]
Buses Drive Past Injured Pedestrian — From Dave Statter: “Person struck on N. Glebe Road at Randolph IFO Harris Teeter tonight. Lots of people stopped to help. Bus drivers though forged ahead. How about parking the bus to block the roadway to protect everyone until fire & EMS arrive?” [Twitter]
Local GOP in Fundraising Mode — From the Arlington GOP: “Arlington Republicans are preparing to take our message to tens of thousands of voters this year. With solid candidates and good ideas, we’re ready to take on the failed ‘Arlington Way’ in our community.” [Twitter]
Pike Restaurant Recs — “Long known to be Arlington’s most diverse corridor, Columbia Pike has a rich history as a culinary melting pot. The roughly 3-mile stretch that extends from Arlington into Fairfax County offers everything from Old Bay shrimp empanadas and plant-based Ethiopian fare to melty pupusas… Here are more than a dozen restaurants and bars to hit up and down the Pike.” [Arlington Magazine]
Pike Library Parking Changes — “As construction efforts ramp up on the Arlington Career Center parcel, parking for patrons of the Columbia Pike branch library is going to get more dicey. The library will remain open during the two years required for construction of a new Career Center along South Walter Reed Drive, but the parking lot no longer will be accessible directly from Walter Reed. Drivers should enter through South Highland Street, or consider walking, biking or using public transit, county officials said.” [Gazette Leader]
Amazon Fresh Reopens — From an Amazon spokesperson, regarding the temporarily closure of a local Amazon Fresh store: “I wanted to follow up and let you know that the Amazon Fresh in Crystal City has reopened to customers as of this week.”
Powering the Power Crews — From Dominion’s Peggy Fox: “Lovely people at Our Lady of Lourdes church in Arlington who thanked @DominionEnergy crews & W.A. Chester contractors with homemade cookies! We have a lot of nice neighbors out here!” [Twitter]
It’s Monday — There is a 20% chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms throughout the day, with partly sunny skies and a high near 84°F. Winds will start from the northwest at 6-8 mph and become southwest in the morning. The night will be mostly clear, with a low of 65°F and a north wind at 6 mph. [Weather.gov]
As of 9 a.m., Dominion is reporting 20,394 customers still without power in Arlington. That’s down from more than 34,000 immediately after the storm. Arlington makes up about two thirds of the 31,603 outages Dominion is reporting across Northern Virginia.
Dominion says it has 170 bucket trucks deployed and is working “as safely and quickly as possible to restore service.” Due to the large volume of trees and utility lines down across the region — particularly in Arlington — Dominion has not yet been able to provide estimates for when power will be restored.
Outage Update: 32,443 outages in Northern Va.
Our patrols continue to gather info on outages so we can set ETRs (estimated time of restoration)
170 bucket trucks are headed to damage locations. Our crews will work as safely & quickly as possible to restore service. pic.twitter.com/5NXKuTWa0m
Along with power outages, readers have reported Xfinity TV and internet service outages in parts of the county. The trees that brought down power lines also brought down cable lines in many locations.
The GW Parkway remains closed in both directions between the Beltway and Spout Run in Arlington due to a large number of downed trees.
From parkway spokesman Mark Maloy:
Due to the storm that moved through the northern Virginia area on Saturday afternoon, numerous trees fell across the travel lanes of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Currently, the northern section of the George Washington Memorial Parkway (from Spout Run Parkway to the Capital Beltway) is closed as tree crews work to remove trees from the roadway. This closure will remain in place on Sunday until an assessment has been completed and all hazardous trees removed. There are numerous other trees downed in areas of the George Washington Memorial Parkway and the Clara Barton Parkway and the National Park Service is continuing to assess the damage and clear trees. We encourage drivers to use caution in the area and if they encounter any downed trees on the George Washington Memorial Parkway to call US Park Police at 202-610-7500.
Among the more dramatic storm impacts was a large window that blew out of an apartment building in Clarendon amid the damaging wind gusts.
Witnesses tell ARLnow that the window came from the top of The Reserve at Clarendon building along Washington Blvd, between N. Highland and N. Garfield street.
“Windows missing from 11th floor unit at the Reserve, window frames and glass all over Washington Blvd, dented and damaged parked car [with] window frame next to it,” a reader tells ARLnow. “[The damaged] car was parked outside of Clarendon 1021, a block away. Cracked windows in the building where the Clarendon Orange Theory is (across the street from Reserve). Crazy!”
Police closed streets around the building due to the falling glass, though the roads have since reopened.
“At 7:05 p.m., police were dispatched to the 3000 block of Washington Boulevard for the report of two windowpanes that had fallen,” Arlington County police spokeswoman Ashley Savage confirmed to ARLnow. “No injuries were reported and the roads closed in the area have reopened.”
Videos posted online, below, show the intensity of the wind from Saturday’s storms.
— Arlington National Cemetery (@ArlingtonNatl) July 30, 2023
Update at 11:20 a.m. on 7/31/23 — The number of outages in Arlington is down to 3,154. The GW Parkway remains closed.
Update at 3:45 p.m. — Outages are now down to 14,313. Arlington County, meanwhile, is warning people to stay out of Gulf Branch downstream from Military Road due to sewage in the water from a pump failure.
AVOID Gulf Branch downstream of Military Road through Monday due to wastewater contamination from a failed pump caused by Saturday's storm. Trail access in the area is also temporarily closed until further notice. Seek alternate route. pic.twitter.com/BWZkSDp6ZU
— Arlington Department of Environmental Services (@ArlingtonDES) July 30, 2023
Update at 1:25 p.m. — The number of outages in Arlington has ticked down to 17,811, according to Dominion. The power company is hoping to have power restored to “most customers” later tonight.
Arlington County says the curbside collection of storm debris may take “weeks.”
Outage Update:@DominionEnergy crews are out in force assessing damage, making repairs & working as safely & quickly as possible to restore power.
Most customers will have power restored by 11 p.m.
In some areas with significant damage, restoration will continue into Monday.
Crews are out surveying damage due to yesterday’s storm— prioritizing critical infrastructure. Please use caution when visiting parks and trails and report any downed trees or other maintenance needs through Report a Problem: https://t.co/n8lvg5HltM
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(Updated at 8:30 p.m.) Tens of thousands are without power in Arlington after severe storms ripped through the county Saturday evening.
As of 6 p.m. Dominion was reporting 34,068 customers without power in Arlington alone and more than 83,000 across Northern Virginia. The outages were still above 28,000 as of 8 p.m., suggesting many may remain in the dark overnight.
The peak outage figure from today’s storm is about half that of the 2012 derecho.
The storm damage is widespread and includes numerous trees and power lines down across the county. Significant damage was reported along the Orange Line corridor — Virginia Square, Clarendon to Courthouse, and Rosslyn — including fencing blown over, street lights topped, trees and branches down, and construction debris scattered.
The intersection of Washington Blvd and N. Highland Street in Clarendon was being completely blocked as of 8 p.m. due to window panes that blew out of a building during the storm. A photo sent to ARLnow showed a shattered window pane that fell onto a parked car.
Numerous roads were blocked or impeded after the storm, including some major routes like I-66 and the GW Parkway.
“Numerous trees and large branches blew down blocking eastbound [I-66]” near Rosslyn, according to the National Weather Service; the lanes reportedly reopened around 6:30 p.m. U.S. Park Police is also reporting the GW Parkway blocked near Spout Run due to trees down. Heavy traffic is still reported on both routes as of 6:45 p.m.
Both directions of Spout Run are blocked due to trees down, including one said to be down on a vehicle near Lorcom Lane, per scanner traffic.
Trees are down on at least eight houses, including one on the unit block of S. Fillmore Street, where people were reported to be trapped. They have since been reported to be out and safe. Other trees were reported down on houses on the 900 block of N. Cleveland Street, the 5200 block of 11th Road N. and the 3000 block of 17th Road S., as well as in yards, on fences, and across neighborhood streets.
A number of structure fires were also reported, mostly due to downed wires or lightning strikes.
Just after the storm passed a house was on fire in the Barcroft neighborhood, near the intersection of S. Pershing Drive and 2nd Street S. Another residential structure fire was reported on the 4900 block of 7th Road S. As of 6:10 p.m., Arlington County firefighters were responding to a report of a tree down on a house and power lines sparking on top of the roof, on the 2900 block of 22nd Street N. in Maywood.
Additionally, the fire department responded to several calls of smoke inside of homes and other buildings, as well as calls for stuck elevators as a result of power outages.
Arlington fire department resources are maxed out, according to scanner traffic. Authorities are asking residents not to call 911 except in the event of an emergency due to the high volume of calls.
ACFD and regional partners are experiencing a significant increase in call volume. Emergency incidents will be addressed based on their priority level and available resources. Expect response times to be delayed. pic.twitter.com/LXp9CfhFQS
— Arlington Fire & EMS (@ArlingtonVaFD) July 29, 2023
Among the other reports of storm damage in Arlington:
23rd Street S. and S. Hayes Street: 23rd Street S. blocked by downed trees and utility lines
N. Illinois Street and Washington Blvd: Numerous trees down, including one that fell into a house
19th Street N. and N. Nelson Street: Trees down blocking street
N. Kirkwood Road south of Langston Blvd: Trees down blocking street
19th Street N. and N. Nelson Street: Trees down
S. Woodrow Street and 2nd Street S.: Trees and wires down
Rosslyn (various locations): Fences blown down and construction debris scattered
Wilson Blvd and N. Lexington Street: Tree and utility lines down
N. Lexington Street and 8th Road N.: Utility lines down
N. Garfield Street and Clarendon Blvd: Utilities line down blocking road
Gulf Branch Nature Center: People are unable to leave the parking lot due to a downed tree and lines
N. Pershing Drive and N. Fillmore Street — Road blocked by downed tree
N. Jackson Street and N. Pershing Drive — Trees down, blocking road
Washington Blvd and 13th Street N. — Construction fencing down in front of apartment building under construction in Clarendon
WB Route 50 at N. Courthouse Road — Tree down, partially across road
10th Street N. and Route 50 — Traffic lights are “backwards, causing a major issue,” per scanner
WB Route 50 at N. Edison Street — Tree down, blocking two lanes
2500 block of N. Upland Street — Tree down onto car, blocking road
Key Blvd and N. Herndon Street — Trees down, blocking road
S. Wakefield Street near Barcroft Elementary — Tree down onto wires
1700 block of S. Garfield Street — Tree down blocking road
100 block of N. Oakland Street — Tree down across road
10th Street N. between Wilson Blvd and Washington Blvd — Police are blocking intersections due to power outage and debris
2nd Street N. and N. Highland Street — Tree down blocking roadway
N. Kenilworth Street and 19th Street N. — Trees down blocking road
Arlington Ridge Road near 23rd Street S. — Trees down, road blocked
“There’s stuff down everywhere,” said ARLnow staff photographer Jay Westcott, after photographing damage across the county. “It’s almost like the derecho in 2012.”
Westcott said he saw many drivers “Wild West-ing it” through darkened traffic signals, rather than treating the intersections as a four-way stop.
The line of storms that crossed Arlington packed damaging wind gusts. A 58 mph gust was recorded at Hoffman-Boston Elementary, while a 60 mph gust was recorded at National Airport. Across the Potomac, a 84 mph gust was reported at George Washington University’s Mount Vernon Campus, according to the National Weather Service.
Some views of the storm and the damage across Arlington via social media:
Expect showers and thunderstorms after 2pm, with mostly sunny weather and a high of 96°F. The heat index may reach 104°F, while west winds of 7-13 mph may gust up to 20 mph. There is a 60% chance of precipitation, with potential rainfall of up to half an inch. Saturday night, anticipate likely showers and thunderstorms mainly before 8pm, with a low around 72°F and winds shifting from west to north. The chance of precipitation remains 60%, with new rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, but potentially higher in thunderstorms. See more from Weather.gov.
💡 Quote of the Day
“Do what you can with what you have where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt
🌅 Tonight’s sunset
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