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Arlington residents woke up this morning to power outages and scores of downed trees and tree branches, thanks to the high winds and torrential rains of Hurricane Irene.

“It’s just terrible,” said County Board member Walter Tejada as he toured some of the worst scenes of destruction around the county with Acting County Manager Marsha Allgeier and Deputy Police Chief Michael Dunne. While many areas escaped with just a few downed tree limbs, some areas remain blocked and without power due to large trees that fell across roads and power lines.


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(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.