trees down

Irene’s Winds Bring Down Trees, Knock Out Power

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 12:25 p.m.) Tropical storm-force winds from Hurricane Irene, combined with a steady, soaking rain, brought down at least 75 trees throughout Arlington last night, completely or partially blocking at least 35 streets, authorities said.

The falling trees blocked main roads, like Columbia Pike and westbound I-66, and knocked out power to various parts of the county. The 100 block of N. Liberty Street, Rock Spring Road and N. Wakefield Street, N. Quantico and N. 18th Street and N. Edison and Little Falls Road all remain blocked this afternoon, according to authorities and residents. County crews with chainsaws are helping to remove fallen trees and tree limbs from the roadway.

Some trees fell onto power lines and the roofs of houses, courtesy of wind gusts up to 59 miles per hour. A tree also fell onto the Blue Line tracks near Arlington National Cemetery, forcing Metro trains to single-track through the area.

Dominion was reporting more than 14,000 customers without power in Arlington as of 6:00 a.m. Numerous traffic lights were either dark or flashing as power flickered in many parts of the county overnight. The number of reported power outages dropped to just below 8,000 by noon on Sunday.

So far, only one minor storm-related injuries has been reported, according to Arlington County spokeswoman Jennifer K. Smith.

Metro Prepares for Hurricane Irene

By ARLnow.com

Metro is preparing for the flooding and wind damage that may accompany the weekend arrival of Hurricane Irene.

The agency says it is calling in additional support personnel, who will be “on duty throughout the weekend to respond to any situations that may arise.”

WMATA is supplying chain saws to Metro drivers, “for use in the event of downed trees.” Metrobuses and MetroAccess vehicles may be detoured around fallen trees and flooded areas, as necessary. Metro is also checking all drainage pumps and clearing out debris from drainage areas near Metro stations.

“Supervisors will monitor critical locations, such as bus garages, parking garages, and flood-prone areas throughout the weekend,” Metro said in a press release.

Metro has placed more than 2,000 sandbags around the escalators of Metrorail stations that have a history of flooding, including the Foggy Bottom and King Street stations. None of the listed stations are in Arlington.

“We’re putting all of our resources in place to address any issues that arise out of the extreme weather conditions this weekend,” said Metro General Manager and CEO Richard Sarles. “We will be updating our customers through our website, Twitter, email alerts and the media.”

See our earlier post on Arlington County’s hurricane preparations here.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Storm Damage Caused by ‘Macroburst’ — The National Weather Service says the extensive damaged caused by Sunday night’s storm was caused by a “macroburst” — a larger version of a microburst. The macroburst brought winds of 60-70 miles per hour to some North Arlington neighborhoods, causing trees and power poles to snap in half. [MyFoxDC]

RV Catches Fire on GW Parkway — Traffic was brought to a standstill on the GW Parkway Monday morning when an RV burst into flames. Dark, billowing smoke from the fire could be seen across the river in D.C. The driver got out safely, but the RV was a total loss. [NBC Washington]

Pike Residents ‘Want it All’ — Columbia Pike residents who participated in last week’s ‘charrette‘ process “want to have their cake and eat it too,” in the words of one planner. The county is working to satisfy their demands for expensive amenities and preserved affordable housing. [Washington Examiner]

Arlington Schools Handle Language Challenges — Arlington Public Schools’ Language Services and Registration Center helps children from nearly 3,000 immigrant families, who communicate in 96 different languages, to integrate into the school system. [Washington Post]

Flickr pool photo by Runneralan2004

AM Road Closures Possible in N. Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Crews are still working to clean up toppled trees and tangled power lines left in the wake of the powerful storm that ripped through Arlington Sunday night.

The photo above depicts damage in the area of Glebe Road and Old Dominion Drive, in one of the county’s hardest-hit neighborhoods. As of 3:00 a.m., 1360 Dominion customers in North Arlington were still without power.

Glebe Road finally reopened between 33rd and 36th Streets late last night, but Arlington officials warned that the following roads may still be closed during this morning’s rush hour.

  • Old Dominion Drive, between Glebe Road and Williamsburg Blvd.
  • Rock Springs Road from Glebe Road to Little Falls Road

“Please allow for extra travel time tomorrow, and be prepared to take an alternate route,” officials advised.

Flickr pool photo by Lifeinthedistrict

Power Outages After Storms Race Through Area

By ARLnow.com

Update at 9:05 p.m. — The number of Dominion customers without power in Arlington is now down to 350.

Dominion is reporting that just over 2,500 customers are without power in Arlington after a line of storms raced through the area just after dinner time.

There have been scattered reports of downed trees and power lines following the storms, which brought sudden high winds to Arlington around 7:45 tonight.

Most of the reported power outages are in South Arlington. Several traffic lights are reported to be dark along Columbia Pike.

Storms Roll Through Arlington

By ARLnow.com

A line of storms rolled through Arlington this afternoon, knocking down trees and power lines and generally making a soggy mess of the area’s spring blooms.

As of 7:10 p.m. there were 724 Dominion customers without power in Arlington County. Among the areas where downed trees were reported were N. Dittmar Road in the Old Glebe neighborhood and in the parking lot of an apartment complex at S. Scott Street and Columbia Pike (above).

Weather watchers report that another line of storms may impact the area in another hour or two.

Rain, Wind Causes Scattered Problems

By ARLnow.com

Miserable weather led to scattered problems across Arlington last night.

Steady rains caused some localized flooding in parts of the county. Police reportedly had to block off 11th Street at North Kennebec Street last night due to water in the roadway. A big pool of standing water also caused a traffic hazard on the northbound lanes of Glebe Road, just before Wilson Boulevard.

Local streams filled with fast-moving water as a result of the rain. This video shows a normally-peaceful section of Four Mile Run that turned into a raging rapid near Shirlington.

Elsewhere in Arlington, gusty winds brought down trees and power lines.

A brief period of sleet, meanwhile, made its way through the area around midnight. There was no noticeable accumulation in Arlington.

Large Tree Falls, Damages House

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:00 p.m.) A large tree has fallen and damaged a home on the 3800 block of North Vernon Street, in the Old Glebe neighborhood.

The falling tree took utility lines down with it. Dominion Power has shut down power to the lines and has a crew on the scene.

A number of incidents of downed trees and power lines have been reported around Arlington today as a result of the high winds.

GW Parkway Reopened As Crews Clear Abandoned Cars

By ARLnow.com

Closed since it was the scene of a “bumper-car graveyard” last night, one lane of the northbound George Washington Parkway has finally reopened near Spout Run.

The road was closed for most of the morning as crews worked to clear snow, fallen trees and abandoned vehicles.

G.W. Parkway drivers spent up to 14 hours in their cars, from yesterday afternoon to early this morning, as fallen trees and collisions blocked the roadway in both directions.

“I have a friend who has been there since 5pm. She says cops are walking up and down, people are huddling together in cars,” a Twitter user told us just before 11:00 last night. There were reports of cars running out of gas and of people simply getting out of their cars and walking.

U.S. Park Police spokesman Sgt. David Schlosser tells WTOP that the Parkway was jammed due to a “cascading effect – crashes, trees coming down, people abandoning their vehicles.”

One woman who had been stuck on the Parkway told NBC Washington that she made it home at 5:30 this morning, after leaving her Crystal City office at 4:45 p.m.

Abandoned cars are being towed to the parking lots at the scenic overlook and Roosevelt Island.

Dr. Gridlock has more information on how to retrieve an abandoned vehicle.

Photo courtesy Steve Buttry.

The Storm Clean-Up Continues Around Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Nearly 12 hours after the snow stopped falling, firefighters are still responding to dozens of reports of downed trees and power lines.

There are now just under 13,000 Dominion customers without power, a number that seems to keep falling.

Highways like I-66 and I-395, which were jammed last night with traffic, snow and disabled and crashed vehicles, are now clear. Most major local county roads are clear. But many side streets remain impassable, either because of snow or downed trees. A big test will come in the next hour, as federal employees — currently on a two-hour delay — start heading to work.

Arlington County says its Emergency Communications Center handled more than 2,400 call during and after the storm last night. Normal call volume during that 12-hour time period is just under 900.

The county has issued a press release about its response to the storm:

ARLINGTON, Va. — Arlington County road crews have cleared the County’s arterial streets hours after a “thunderstorm” dumped several inches of snow on the County and snarled traffic across the region. Crews now are focusing on collector streets and will move into neighborhoods later this morning.

With schools closed and County government opening two hours late, the County is dealing with low hanging power lines, downed lines and fallen trees, or large branches thatt were obstructing roadways and sidewalks. A handful of vehicles were abandoned by commuters on County streets Wednesday night, impeding some plowing operations on arterial streets. By  8 a.m. Thursday, crews had cleared 20 downed trees, but at least seven trees were reportedly blocking streets, and another 11 streets were partially blocked.

“Our crews are hard at work and doing their best to dig the County out and get folks back to work and school as soon as possible,” said County Manager Barbara Donnellan. “We’re making good progress and we thank our residents and businesses for their patience.”

Residents urged to use public transit

The County’s Environmental Services department asked residents to use caution on the roadways and take public transit if they must travel today. Drivers who see a plow/salt spreader, should stay at least 100 feet behind the truck until it is safe to pass.

The County also asks residents to make sure their cars are off residential streets, if off-street parking is available, so that plows can move quickly and safely. The County has deployed 45 plows to clear and treat Arlington roadways. About 150 men and women have been working in two 12-hour shifts around the clock since before the storm hit.

Water pressure re-established

This morning our Water Sewer Streets Bureau investigated reports of low water pressure/no water in the area of Lee Hwy from Military Rd west to Washington Blvd. A power outage at a pumping station was suspected and a crew has since re-established pressure at the pumping station.

The widespread power outages affected a number of County facilities. Crews are working to reestablish power to those facilities. About 13,769 Dominion Power customers in Arlington were without power as of 6:45 a.m., many of those were north of Lee Highway.

ECC inundated with calls

The County’s Emergency Communications Center processed approximately 2411 inbound and outbound calls in a 12-hour period during the snow incident. (During December 2010, on a typical Wednesday, ECC processed on average of approximately 896 inbound and outbound calls from the center in a 12-hour period.)

The ECC dispatched about 356 fire calls for service, 75% of them directly storm-related. Another 229 calls for service were dispatched, 57% of them were directly storm-related.

For detailed information on closings, schedule changes and winter weather tips, and for information on the snow ordinance, visit the County Web site.

Residents and businesses are also being updated by the County on Facebook and Twitter.

The Virginia Department of Emergency Management has also issued a press release about the clean-up, after the jump.

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