Tuesday, October 30, 2012
No storm-related injuries or fatalities reported late Monday.
The winds may still be blowing, but Arlington County will wake to a relative standstill Tuesday with the federal government and county and schools facilities closed and public transit ground to a halt. Arlington County saw numerous trees and wires down, but no injuries or fatalities related to Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy were reported. "It's pretty horrible out there, and certainly there's been a lot of very strong messaging going out, not just from us, but from FEMA and NOAA and everybody else, that this storm is going to last a long time, and people need to stay safe — and staying safe means staying home," said Arlington County spokeswoman Mary Curtis at about 10:30 p.m. "And from what we're seeing, people are really taking that to heart…
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Gov. Bob McDonnell charged panel with reviewing the system losses that followed the late-June derecho.
Arlington County Board Member Jay Fisette has been named to a statewide panel charged with reviewing 911 service in Virginia following the widespread system failures caused by the derecho that slammed this area in late June. Gov. Bob McDonnell's Secure Commonwealth Panel's 911 sub-panel consists of 15 state and local government and private sector leaders from across Virginia, according to an Arlington County news release. The group met for the first time last week in Richmond. “Every citizen of the Commonwealth has a right to expect that when you have an emergency, you can rely on 9-1-1,” Fisette said in a statement. “Unfortunately, we in Arlington — and in other Virginia jurisdictions — had a very different experience during the recent el…
Thursday, September 6, 2012
County to hold free shelter-in-place training training tonight at 2100 Clarendon Blvd.
September is National Preparedness Month, and Arlington County is planning several events and initiatives to coincide with it. "As we saw during the derecho, county resources can be stretched thin," said Jack Brown, director of the county's Office of Emergency Management. "So, we want the entire Arlington community to be a part of the response. Whether it's a storm or a terrorist attack, we want people to be prepared for all hazards: stay informed, listen to the radio, keep your ears to the ground, and make the right decisions to keep yourself and your family safe." Brown asks that everyone check their supplies and make sure to have three to five days of nonperishable food and water on hand, along with batteries, a battery-powered radio …
Thursday, August 23, 2012
So far, county estimates storm cost about $800,000.
Arlington County is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to recover costs associated with the late-June derecho that slammed Northern Virginia. So far, the damage estimate is at about $800,000, said Jack Brown, director of the county's Office of Emergency Management. Most of that — about $600,000 — covers overtime, comp time and equipment for county departments during the week that followed the storm. The high-wind storm also caused an estimated $200,000 to the Arlington County Trades Center, a 40-acre facility next to Four Mile Run that serves as a staging area for the local government's vehicles and equipment, and to the Long Branch Nature Center at 625 S. Carlin Springs Road. The costs have not been finalized, Brown said…
Friday, July 13, 2012
Moran, Connolly, Wolf want the FCC to reconsider a regulation concerning backup power that the commission proposed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Northern Virginia's three congressmen called on the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday to take action that will prevent future outages to the region's 911 systems. In a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, U.S. Reps. Jim Moran, Gerry Connolly and Frank Wolf asked that the commission dust off a post-Hurricane Katrina regulation that would have required all telecommunications companies to provide at least eight hours of backup power for all cell phone towers. The regulation was subsequently struck down on a technicality related to how the commission handled public comments, according to a news release. “In the event of an emergency situation, whether it be a natural disaster or man-made threat, the public needs confidence …
Monday, July 9, 2012
Post-Derecho the telecommunications company is continuing to restore service to all customers in Northern Virginia.
A possible tornado in Fredericksburg, a derecho and other severe weather have thrown service out of commission for many Verizon customers. Since June 29, Verizon has been experiencing service outages due to the freak weather occurances and has been assessing and repairing damage. "After Verizon technicians worked extended shifts throughout the weekend, the company’s service levels are nearly back to normal in most of the Washington metropolitan area," said a prepared statement from the company. "Company technicians now are focusing on service restoral for several hundred customers in areas technicians could not previously reach due to downed power lines." The possible tornado in Fredericksburg downed approximately 20 power poles. "As of …
Thursday, July 5, 2012
While waiting for the power to return, what was your most helpful item?
When a surprise derecho hit Northern Virginia Friday night, its winds downed trees and power lines, cutting off "juice" to thousands in the area. While most customers of Dominion Virginia Power are back up and running, there are still 13,000 homes without power in Northern Virginia Thursday morning, according to the company's latest figures. If you were in the dark after the derecho, what got you through? What was the one most useful item that made it bearable? A generator, a flashlight, a book, ice? Take our poll — and if you don't see your top item in the list, tell us about it in the comments box!
911 crippled for three days following Friday storm.
Northern Virginia officials are raising questions about how Verizon handled the loss of several 911 emergency systems, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. The 911 problems in Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William counties, among other places, started in the aftermath of Friday night's derecho and were not fully cleared up until Tuesday in some areas. In Arlington, Jack Brown, the head of the county's Office of Emergency Management, wanted officials to think carefully about proceeding with Fourth of July festivities because of the post-storm cleanup and communications situations. The main culprit seems to have been a Verizon "trunk line" in Arlington, Patch reported Saturday. A trunk is a "communications path connecting two switching …
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Dominion lists 36 work crew locations Tuesday in Arlington.
Update (12:49 p.m.): So far, Arlington County has collected more than 395 tons of debris following Friday night's storm. Ten intersections remain without power and should be treated as a four-way stop. Eighteen streets remain blocked. Power has been restored to Culpepper Gardens, an assisted-living home for seniors in the Buckingham community. The county considered that location to be a priority Monday night. Statewide, the storm and its aftermath are responsible for 11 fatalities — including three in Fairfax County and one in Loudoun, according to Gov. Bob McDonnell's office. That number does not include the pedestrian who was killed Sunday night at a blacked-out Columbia Pike intersection in Arlington. Original post (12:13 p.m.): Note: …
County emergency management director: 'Fireworks are going to happen.'
As Virginia continues to recover from the largest non-hurricane power outage in the state's history, Arlington County's emergency management director is raising questions as to how best to handle the upcoming Fourth of July holiday. "I want to make sure that we think very, very carefully about adding a special event onto an emergency condition that we're still under here in Arlington County. It appears our good friends in Washington, D.C., aren't suffering the same power outages and loss of communications that we are," said Jack Brown, the head of the county's Office of Emergency Management. "People come to Arlington. They're going to go to the Iwo Jima Memorial. They're going to go to Long Bridge Park. They're going to go to the Air Force…
Don
10:22 pm on Thursday, September 6, 2012
First thing to do when the temp goes below 50 degrees and over 85 degrees outside and the power goes off...get elderly people outta there. more ›