Report: Extreme Rainstorms in Virginia Occur More Frequently

New Environment Virginia report says extreme rain and snow storms are becoming more frequent.

Extreme rainstorms are occurring 33 percent more frequently in Virginia since 1948, according to a new Environment Virginia report. Based on an analysis of state data from the National Climatic Data Center, the report released Tuesday found that heavy downpours that used to happen once every 12 months on average in state now happen every nine months on average. Moreover, the biggest storms are getting bigger. The largest annual storms in Virginia now produce 11 percent more precipitation, on average, than they did 65 years ago. Alexandria and surrounding areas were hit hard by the derecho storm less than one month ago. Key findings from the report for Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic include:

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Congressmen Call on FCC to Prevent Future 911 Failures

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 …

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Verizon Making 'Substantial' Progress in Service Restoration

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 …

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Village Sprouts

Moving Beyond Derecho

There will always be more storms. Will you be prepared?

Congratulations! If you are reading this, it means that—hopefully—your power is up and running. Per Dominion Power website’s “Storm Center,” all of Northern Virginia’s storm related outages should have been repaired by Friday night. The recent “derecho” storm was completely unexpected and hammered communities throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. As a result, utility companies were caught off guard and not able to rely on the support of neighboring states. Repair crews came from as far as Florida, Oklahoma and Quebec to facilitate tree removal and power line restoration. But what about the next crisis? Year after year, our area faces events that damage homes and businesses, cause power outages and affect transportation. Our power grid is old…

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Port City Brewing Company Has Close Call After Power Outages

Alexandria company could have lost thousands of gallons of beer following last Friday's derecho storm.

Power outages from last week's storm could have caused Port City Brewing Company to lose thousands of gallons of beer. The brewing company in Alexandria was without power from Friday, June 29 until Thursday morning. There was no backup generator in place. “Our brewer, in his 17 years of experience, had never lost a batch of beer from a power outage before,” said Bill Butcher, the brewery's founder. “Because of that and because the systems are very expensive, we chose not to buy a backup generator.” Butcher said the company was able to rent a generator to keep its “critical systems” operational and keep tanks containing beer temperature-controlled. All other aspects of the business, such as the tasting room, were shut down until Thursday. …

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Updated: Verizon Mobile Unit Offering Services to City Residents Without Power

Mobile unit stationed at T.C. Williams High School will be open until 6 p.m. Thursday.

1:55 p.m. update — Verizon has parked its mobile unit behind Chinquapin Recreation Center, located at 3210 King St. The mobile unit will also be stationed there from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.  — — — — Verizon is providing free Internet and telephone services to Alexandria residents who continue to experience power and service outages as a result of last week’s storm. Verizon is stationing an air-conditioned mobile unit at T.C. Williams High School from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday for city residents to escape the heat, charge their devices, connect to the Internet and make telephone calls. Dominion Power told city officials it expects 90 to 95 percent of its Alexandria customers will have power restored by Thursday evening. Virtually all remaining …

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Rec Centers Will Open as Cooling Stations on Wednesday

By Tuesday night, 85 percent of the Dominion customers in Alexandria should have power restored.

Alexandria will open its recreation centers as cooling stations from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday as the city continues to recover from Friday’s major storm. Thousands in Alexandria remain without power, including several blocks in the Del Ray and Potomac Greens neighborhoods. Dominion Virginia Power has told Alexandria that 85 percent of its customers should have power restored by Tuesday evening, and 90 to 95 percent of its customers should have power restored by Thursday evening. Dominion told the city that virtually every remaining customer should have power by Saturday night. Areas with the most severe damage may not have power restored until Sunday. City officials met with state and local Dominion representatives on Monday afternoon to…

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Most ACPS Programs to Resume Tuesday

Patrick Henry, George Mason and John Adams elementary schools without power.

Most Alexandria City Public Schools and summer programs run by ACPS partner organizations in school buildings will reopen on Tuesday. Work to restore power at Patrick Henry, John Adams and George Mason elementary schools following Friday's storm remains ongoing. Higher Achievement program activities and registration for adult education programs will resume tomorrow, as will Campagna Center Summer Programs and all Campagna Center Early Childhood Programs. Campagna Center programs that operate at Patrick Henry will be relocated to James K. Polk Elementary until Henry reopens. Summer programs at John Adams will relocate to William Ramsay until further notice. Year-round and summer ACPS employees are expected to report at their normally …

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