Update at 8:40 p.m. — Closures along Lee Highway and N. Glebe Road, among others, are expected to remain in place into the morning rush hour, according to Arlington Alert.
INCIDENT: Weather Related Closures
LOCATION: County-Wide
IMPACT: Closures expected into the morning commute: Lee HW btwn John Marshall Dr & Nottingham, N Barton btwn 10th & 12th St N, 11th St N btwn Cleveland & 2300 blk, N Glebe Rd btwn 50 & Henderson pic.twitter.com/66GpWKVIub— Arlington Alert (@arlingtonalert) May 24, 2019
Update at 7 p.m. — Lee Highway is blocked at N. Nottingham Street, just west of the District Taco, due to a downed tree, according to scanner traffic. Reported power outages are down to about 28,500 in Arlington.
Update at 6 p.m. — Power outages in Arlington have reached a new peak of 35,719 customers, per Dominion’s website. Firefighters, meanwhile, are continue to respond to numerous reports of trees and wires down on houses — and across sidewalks and roadways — as well as a number of vehicle crashes. A tree is reported down on a car at the intersection of N. Kennebec Street and 11th Road N. in the Westover neighborhood, according to the National Weather Service.
Additional photos from the road closure on Glebe Road. The roadway is expected to remain closed for 8-12 hours. Please avoid the area. pic.twitter.com/qZ9Ezj7WH8
— ArlingtonCountyPD (@ArlingtonVaPD) May 23, 2019
Update at 5:20 p.m. — Dark traffic signals is causing gridlock on local roads. A Google traffic map shows significant delays, particularly around the Ballston area. Arlington Public Schools and Arlington Transit buses are reported to be delayed due to heavy traffic.
Video recently posted of the storm arriving in Ballston shows a transformer explosion.
Police, @ArlingtonVaFD, @ReadyArlington, Sheriff's Office and @ArlingtonDES are all working tirelessly to prioritize calls for service related to today's significant storms and address immediate threats to public safety. Remember: only call 9-1-1 in an emergency. https://t.co/Ib6EXWW1ou
— ArlingtonCountyPD (@ArlingtonVaPD) May 23, 2019
There is a pretty large tree down near Patrick Henry on the 800 block of S Walter Reed. Blocking the sidewalk and some of the road. Be careful! @ARLnowDOTcom @ArlingtonVaFD pic.twitter.com/dmhnscUZp4
— Librarian Jayla (@APL_Jayla) May 23, 2019
Update at 4:55 p.m. — Dominion has posted the following message on its website about the storm recovery.
Dominion Energy’s northern region has been impacted by severe thunderstorms, which included 70 mph wind gusts and lightning. These locations are the most impacted:
- Alexandria
- Fairfax
- Woodbridge
- Springfield
- Leesburg
- Fredericksburg
Customers have reported several spans of wire, trees and tree limbs down on the ground and over roadways.
We are still getting impacted by this line of storms. Our crews are working as quickly and as safely as possible to restore power. As soon as we are able to do a thorough assessment of the damages, we will be able to establish an estimated time of restoration.
Please stay back from all downed wires or damaged equipment, and call us immediately to report these damages at 1-866-DOM-HELP or 1-866-366-4357. You may also report power outages online by clicking here. If using a generator, please follow your manufacturer’s guidelines to operate it safely.
We appreciate your patience.
Dominion Energy
Update at 4:50 p.m — Due to the extensive storm damage, some parts of Arlington are not expected to have their power restored for hours. Dominion’s map shows the estimated restoration time for some large outages as 5-10 p.m., while others do not have an estimated time of restoration. N. Glebe Road is expected to remain closed south of Ballston, near 4th Street N., for about 12 hours per an Arlington Alert.
Volunteer firefighters have started responding to some calls to help work down the fire department’s backlog, per scanner traffic. Among the calls handled by ACFD are numerous stuck elevators, caused by power outages; several people were just freed from a stuck elevator at Don Tito’s in Clarendon, per scanner traffic.
We’re are currently experiencing extremely high call volume due to the storm. If you are stuck in an elevator, we’re sorry for the inconvenience, but we will be there as soon as possible to get you out. https://t.co/VPpwFRKmVt
— Arlington Fire (@ArlingtonVaFD) May 23, 2019
Update at 4:35 p.m. — Dominion is now reporting just under 35,000 customers without power in Arlington. Among the neighborhoods without power is a large portion of residential north Arlington; several neighborhoods along Columbia Pike; most of Clarendon, Virginia Square and Ballston; Shirlington and Fairlington; and Aurora Highlands and Arlington Ridge.
Some nice graupel sightings from my balcony in Ballston during the madness.@ARLnowDOTcom @capitalweather pic.twitter.com/EwJLlj2p5i
— Tripp Whitbeck (@trippwhitbeck) May 23, 2019
There’s a tree down near the N Harrison/ Little Falls Rd intersection in North Arlington. Lots of lines down. Be safe! @WTOPtraffic @ARLnowDOTcom @DiscoveryAPS pic.twitter.com/RfJUA5aG0A
— Ms. Blake's Class (@MsBlakesClass) May 23, 2019
Updated at 4:20 p.m. — Photos from the scene show extensive storm damage to trees and power lines on N. Glebe Road south of Ballston. Police have requested additional units to the area for crowd control. Arlington’s 911 call center is “slammed” with calls and police have a 20-call backlog, per scanner traffic.