trees down

Photos: Clean-up Continues Following Sandy’s Destruction

By ARLnow.com

Whether it was due to a loss of power or downed trees, thousands of Arlington residents have felt the effects of Superstorm Sandy. Marco Delmar and his family are definitely among them.

Delmar might initially be dubbed unlucky because a tree fell into his home. However, upon further inspection he and his family could actually fall into the “incredibly lucky” category, considering all four are still alive to tell the story.

Around 8:00 p.m. on Monday, the family had just finished dinner and left the dining room when a huge tree slammed into their house on the 2800 block of 2nd Road N. in Lyon Park. Delmar and his wife escaped unharmed, along with their children, ages 12 and 17. (A 21 year-old daughter was away at college at the time.)

“We had just remarked, ‘I’m glad we have this really good insurance company,'” Delmar said with a chuckle. “And sure enough, we ended up about a half an hour later having to call them.”

From the inside, when the tree struck, the family heard a loud crashing sound and could see the plaster falling around them. But they didn’t realize how badly the house had been crushed until they left the house — via the basement, the only way out — and examined the damage from outside. Once they surveyed the mess, the family members felt even luckier to all walk away without a scratch.

“The house is just dirt put together, we’ll build another one,” Delmar said. “I was just thrilled that everyone was fine.”

Delmar said the house was built in the 1920s and he has lived there since 1966. He had a neighbor who worked at the Pentagon and looked up the home in historic records. The neighbor discovered that many of the trees surrounding the house were planted around the time of the Civil War, including the one that crashed into the house.

“You know, my parents owned this house so I bought it when they passed away,” Delmar said. “It was always one of their greatest fears, one of these huge trees would fall.”

Delmar, who is a record producer for Recording Arts, also has a studio in his home and has yet to examine how much of his work may have been affected by the damage. He plans to rent a small place for the family to stay while the house is rebuilt.

Although one of the most severe examples of tree damage from Sandy, Delmar’s case was not the only one in Arlington. Dozens of trees fell in neighborhoods including Bluemont, Waverly Hills, Ballston, Arlington Forest and Aurora Hills (see photos below), some bringing down power lines and utility poles. More reports continue to come in as residents assess damage in their yards and surrounding neighborhoods.

County workers are joining Dominion crews in inspecting hazards and attending to them as quickly as possible.

Photos below by ARLnow.com and various contributors. Contributed photos by photographers as noted.

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Sandy Fells Trees, Knocks Out Power

By ARLnow.com

Superstorm Sandy — nee Hurricane Sandy — brought heavy rain and fierce winds to Arlington Monday night and early Tuesday morning.

Arlington was “spared the worst of the storm’s impact,” according to county officials, but Sandy and her 60 mph wind gusts knocked down dozens of trees across the county, many of which fell onto roadways and into houses.

As of 8:45 a.m., Arlington County was reporting 22 incidents of trees falling onto or into houses. No injuries were reported and authorities made sure all residents were safe. In fact, there are no known storm-related fatalities or injuries, according to county officials.

About 40 roads were still blocked by downed trees, including Washington Boulevard at N. Utah Street in Ballston, seen above. Crews were working to remove the trees, but some fell across power lines, requiring assistance from Dominion.

Approximately 20 traffic signals are not functioning this morning. All dark intersections should be treated as an all-way stop.

As of 9:10 a.m., Dominion was reporting 15,586 customers without power in Arlington, down slightly from more than 18,000 last night.

Statewide, from Sunday to 6:00 this morning, Virginia State Police responded to 2,549 traffic crashes and disabled vehicles, and received a total of 4,605 calls for service. At the height of the storm, state police say they were fielding 155 calls for service an hour. VDOT, meanwhile, has lifted HOV restrictions on I-395, I-95, I-66 and the Dulles Toll Road today.

While winds aren’t quite a strong today, Arlington officials say fallen debris, high standing water and remaining weather impacts are still making travel hazardous.

“We continue to urge caution,” the county said. “Conditions remain potentially dangerous outside. Avoid going out onto the roads. Never drive into standing water.”

Those who must travel today will eventually be able to do so via Metro. The transit agency says it will restore limited bus and rail service starting at 2:00 p.m. Trains and buses will operate on a Sunday schedule.

Update at 10:25 a.m. — Arlington Public Schools says a decision about reopening schools on Wednesday will be made “by early this evening.”

Power Outages Increase, Trees Fall as Winds Pick Up

By ARLnow.com

Update at 11:10 p.m. — There are now 18,050 Dominion customers without power in Arlington.

Update at 7:25 p.m. — The number of Dominion customers without power in Arlington is up to 16,828.

(Updated at 6:10 p.m.) More than 5,800 Dominion customers are without power in Arlington as of 6:05 p.m. as the strongest winds from Hurricane Sandy have started to arrive in the area.

Twitter users have been reporting power outages in the Buckingham area, in Westover Village, Lyon Park and in Crystal City, among other areas. Another large outage is being reported by Dominion in the far northeastern corner of Arlington County. Power has also been flickering in the Ballston, Clarendon, Courthouse and Pentagon City areas.

Wind gusts have been picking up over the past hour. Numerous reports of trees and wires down around the county have been pouring in to Arlington’s Emergency Communications Center. Currently, firefighters are on the scene of a tree that fell into a house, causing significant damage, on the 4800 block of 26th Street N. in the Yorktown area (pictured, left). No injuries were reported.

Additional calls for trees falling onto houses and are being dispatched. A large tree fell into the intersection of 5th Street S. and S. Harrison Street, according to firefighters on the scene.

Arlington County announced today that all county offices, libraries, courts, schools, community centers and nature centers will be closed on Tuesday. ART bus service has also been suspended on Tuesday.

Photo courtesy @CAPT258

County to Residents: Don’t Go Anywhere

By ARLnow.com

Update at 12:20 p.m. — Schools will remain closed tomorrow. All Tuesday classes and activities at Arlington Public Schools have been canceled, according to a recorded message from the school system.

Arlington County is urging residents to stay put until the heavy rain and wind of Hurricane Sandy blows through the area over the next day or so.

“Arlington emergency managers urge everyone to stay where you are,” the county said in a media alert this morning. “High winds and the danger of falling trees will present an extremely unsafe environment. Get yourself to a safe place and stay there.”

With widespread damage to trees expected during the storm, the county is asking residents to call 703-228-6525 to report downed trees. Only in the event of a life-threatening emergency should residents call 9-1-1, the county said.

For non-emergency assistance, residents can call the non-emergency police and fire line at 703-558-2222. Requests for storm aid can be made by calling the Arlington Department of Human Services at 703-228-1300 or the regional aid hotline at 2-1-1.

Sandy is expected to drop up to 5-10 inches of rain on the D.C. area and pack damaging wind gusts of 70-80 miles per hour. From the National Weather Service:

AT 11 AM EDT… THE CENTER OF HURRICANE SANDY WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 37.5N… LONGITUDE 71.5W. THIS WAS ABOUT 315 MILES EAST OF WASHINGTON DC. SANDY WAS MOVING NORTHWEST AT 18 MPH… WITH MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS OF 90 MPH. SANDY IS FORECAST TO MAKE LANDFALL ALONG THE SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY COAST EARLY TONIGHT… WITH A LITTLE STRENGTHENING POSSIBLE BEFORE LANDFALL. SANDY WILL SEVERELY IMPACT THE REGION WELL BEFORE IT COMES ASHORE.

SUMMARY OF THREATS —————— * THE MAIN IMMEDIATE THREATS FOR SANDY WILL BE STRONG WINDS RESULTING IN WIDESPREAD DOWNED TREES AND POWER/COMMUNICATIONS OUTAGES… AND HEAVY RAINS WHICH WILL RESULT IN EXTENSIVE FLOODING OF LOCAL STREAMS AND CREEKS. * BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST IN THE POTOMAC HIGHLANDS AT ELEVATIONS ABOVE 2000 FEET WHERE 18 TO 24 INCHES ARE FORECAST. * MAJOR RIVER FLOODING IS LIKELY TO OCCUR… STARTING THIS AFTERNOON ON SMALLER WATERSHEDS WHICH WILL LEAD TO FLOODING ON THE MAIN-STEM RIVERS SUCH AS THE POTOMAC AND THE SHENANDOAH.

CHANGES SINCE LAST LOCAL STATEMENT ———————————- * THE TIMING OF THE PEAK WINDS FROM SANDY ARE NOW EXPECTED FROM LATE THIS AFTERNOON TO DAYBREAK ON WEDNESDAY. * RAINFALL AMOUNTS HAVE BEEN INCREASED. THE GREATER BALTIMORE METRO AREA IS NOW FORECAST TO RECEIVE 8 TO 12 INCHES OF RAIN… WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS. * THE POTOMAC RIVER IS LIKELY TO GO INTO FLOOD STAGE BEGINNING AROUND WEDNESDAY AND LASTING THROUGH FRIDAY.

HIGH WINDS ———- * WINDS WILL INCREASE STEADILY TODAY… WITH THE MAXIMUM WIND GUSTS OCCURRING LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING. * GENERALLY… SUSTAINED WINDS OF 30 TO 50 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION. * HURRICANE FORCE WIND GUSTS OF 70 AND POSSIBLY 80 MPH ARE EXPECTED TO IMPACT A REGION LOCATED BETWEEN BEL AIR MD… POINT LOOKOUT MD… AND HAGERSTOWN MD BETWEEN 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 6 AM TUESDAY. THIS INCLUDES THE GREATER BALTIMORE AND WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREAS. * COUPLED WITH HEAVY RAINS FROM SANDY… THE HIGH WINDS WILL RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT TREE DAMAGE AND POWER LINE DAMAGE.

RAINFALL AND FLOODING ——————— * 8 TO 12 INCHES OF RAIN IN NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL MD INCLUDING THE BALTIMORE METRO AREA AND ALONG THE WEST SHORE OF THE BAY. * 5 TO 10 INCHES OF RAIN IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE FREDERICK… WASHINGTON AND FREDERICKSBURG METRO AREAS. * 3 TO 6 INCHES OF RAIN IS EXPECTED FOR EASTERN WEST VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIA… WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE DC METRO COUNTIES… AS WELL AS WESTERN MARYLAND WEST OF HANCOCK MD. * THIS AMOUNT OF RAIN WILL LIKELY RESULT IN EXTENSIVE AND DANGEROUS FLOODING OF LOCAL STREAMS AND CREEKS STARTING THIS AFTERNOON AND LASTING INTO WEDNESDAY.

MAIN-STEM RIVER FLOODING ———————— * THE POTOMAC RIVER WILL LIKELY START FLOODING TUESDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. * THE MONOCACY RIVER IS FORECAST TO FLOOD LATER TODAY AND CONTINUE TO BE IN MAJOR FLOOD THROUGH EARLY THURSDAY. LEVELS FORECAST HAVE NOT BEEN SEEN SINCE AGNES IN 1972.

UPDATED: Glebe Road Reopens Near Chain Bridge

By ARLnow.com

Update at 6:10 p.m. — Glebe Road has reopened, according to scanner traffic.

Update at 4:05 p.m. — Crews are hoping to have Glebe Road clear and reopened by 6:00 p.m., we’re told.

Glebe Road is completely blocked in north Arlington near Chain Bridge due to a large downed tree.

According to initial reports, traffic is being diverted on to Old Glebe Road and Chain Bridge Road.

No word yet on whether the road is expected to be back open in time for the evening rush hour.

Power Restoration Nearly Complete in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

A week after the powerful storms that left 68,000 Dominion customers in the dark in Arlington, all but four dozen have had their power restored.

As of 2:00 this (Friday) afternoon, 48 Dominion customers were without power. The company says that it expects all known power outages in the area to be restored by later tonight. According to Arlington officials, all county traffic signals are now functioning. Some 96 traffic signals were knocked out by Friday’s storms, largely due to power outages.

In a press release, the county noted that one of Arlington’s most historic trees was a victim of the storms. The Revolutionary War-era  Post Oak (pictured), in the Westover area, is set to be cut down due to wind damage.

“On Monday, County crews plan to remove the ancient Post Oak, believed to be the oldest tree in Arlington and perhaps in the Commonwealth, that was severely damaged during the storm,” the county said.

Dominion and Arlington County crews are continuing to clear downed trees, power lines and debris from around the county. As of this afternoon, 10 county roads are still completely blocked. Arlington officials released the following statement about the continued clean-up efforts.

The County’s Dept. of Parks and Recreation continues to clear partially and completely blocked roads of debris and downed trees. Operations have been complicated by piles of debris unavoidably pushed into some roads during clearing operations by County crews, utility companies and residents. The County’s priority, in clearing debris, is to make it possible for residents, emergency equipment and utility companies to use the streets. We also clear County buildings, sidewalks along heavily traveled roads, and “safety zones” around high-use recreational facilities, such as parks. Once all these priorities are met, crews focus on the clean-up phase.

Five Dept. of Parks and Recreation crews continue to work solely on road-clearing operations, and will continue through the weekend. … The County’s Solid Waste Bureau Earth Products Recycling Yard, located at 4300 29th St. S, will be open Saturday, July 7 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for residents to drop off brush. County crews have collected 768 tons of debris. The County will suspend debris collection on Sunday, to rest crews, some of whom have worked 13 days straight. Cooling centers still available to residents without power.

Even though the vast majority of homes now have power, the county is continuing to advise residents to utilize Arlington’s libraries, community centers, pools and shopping malls in the event that they need to seek relief from this weekend’s expected extreme heat.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Neighborhood Thanks Power Crews — A few special guests stopped by the Waycroft-Woodlawn Fourth of July picnic yesterday (see photo, above). The neighborhood invited two hard-working power crews from Ontario, Canada to have a quick lunch with them. “The community clapped and cheered to say thanks,” writes resident Jim Pebley. “Was a nice moment after a long hot couple days.”

Storm Damage at Arlington National Cemetery — Arlington National Cemetery is reporting some significant damage in the wake of last Friday’s storms. The cemetery lost three of its oldest trees, which are all between 225 and 240 years old. In all, 8 large trees were lost and 17 were damaged to the point where they need to be removed. Falling trees also damaged some headstones. The cemetery says the damage is similar to that suffered during Hurricane Irene. The cemetery “continues to assess the extent of the damage and has started on the restoration.” [Arlington National Cemetery]

Hospital Visits Up Last Weekend — The number of patient visits to Virginia Hospital Center were about 30 percent higher than normal last weekend, largely due to heat-related symptoms, especially among the elderly, following Friday’s storms. No heat-related deaths have been reported in Arlington since the storms. [Arlington Mercury]

Tree Destroyed House While Family Was Inside — An Arlington couple and their two young girls were, amazingly, unharmed after a large oak tree came crashing through their house during Friday’s storm. The family was at home at the time. The parents were watching a movie in the basement; they came upstairs to find the girls still sleeping in their beds. [WUSA 9]

Blackwell Re-Elected as RNC Rep — Arlington resident Morton Blackwell — founder of the Courthouse-based Leadership Institute, a conservative political training organization — has been re-elected as Virginia representative to the Republican National Committee. [Sun Gazette]

Photo courtesy Jim Pebley

Large Tree Falls on Donaldson Run Home

By ARLnow.com

A large tree came crashing through the roof of a house in the Donaldson Run neighborhood this morning.

Firefighters and a building inspector responded this morning after a call from a neighbor. The badly-damaged house was condemned, but no injuries were reported. What exactly caused the tree to fall is unclear — today’s weather has been relatively calm.

The house is located near the intersection of Vacation Lane and 25th Street N. and near Taylor Elementary School.

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Roads Blocked by Fallen Trees

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 8:40 a.m.) At least two local roads were blocked by fallen trees this morning.

Washington Boulevard was closed between George Mason Drive and N. Harrison Street, near Virginia Hospital Center, due to a large tree that fell onto the roadway overnight, taking power lines down with it. Authorities have warned that the closure could last “well into the day.”

In the North Rosslyn area, a tree fell across N. Scott Street at the intersection with Lee Highway. The road is closed while crews work to clear the debris, authorities said.

Last night, S. Barton Street in Arlington Village was also blocked by a fallen tree (see photo).

Photo courtesy Breandan M.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Historic ‘Arlington Oak’ Toppled — A historic tree in Arlington National Cemetery is now firewood thanks to Hurricane Irene. The cemetery revealed last night that the ‘Arlington Oak’ at the Kennedy gravesite had been knocked down by the storm’s high winds and steady rains. “That tree had a significant legacy here,” said a cemetery official. [CBS News]

Firefighters Collecting for MDA — Arlington’s firefighters are out “filling the boot” at busy intersections to collect money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. A medic crew was out at the intersection of Glebe Road and Columbia Pike last night, and the crew from Engine 109 was spotted out in the Shirlington area, among others. [Shirlington Village Blog]

Are Arlington’s Green Grants Worth It? — Arlington received $3.2 million in federal green energy grants in 2009, according to an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. But was it worth it? One of the grants — $300,000 — was spent to place solar panels on the roof of the Arlington Central Library, a move expected to save some $150,000 over 10-15 years. The Journal opines that it may not be the best investment to give “one of the five wealthiest counties in America free money.” [Wall Street Journal]

Flickr pool photo by BrianMKA

Lubber Run Amphitheater Damaged by Hurricane Irene

By ARLnow.com

The newly-restored Lubber Run Amphitheater was damaged by a falling tree limb over the weekend.

The large, rotted tree limb, felled by the wind and rain of Hurricane Irene, hit the back of the amphitheater building and damaged the concrete brick parapet wall and capping. Some wiring also appeared to be damaged.

The damage is not enough to close the amphitheater for next weekend’s round of performances — the last of the summer — according to county spokeswoman Mary Curtius. She said that the power lines to the building are intact, but will be checked by an electrician. (Update at 2:05 p.m. — We’re now hearing that the power connection to the building may, in fact, have been damaged.)

The building will be repaired by a contractor, Curtius said. The county’s urban forester, meanwhile, will check the tree to make sure it doesn’t pose any additional danger.

Award-winning local rockers The Grandsons will perform at the amphitheater Friday night. On Saturday night the amphitheater will host a teen talent and movie night. Inception will be shown, rounding out the summer’s entertainment schedule.

Hat tip to twelvemilecircle.com

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