News

Storm cleanup: GW Parkway still closed due to downed trees, 20k still without power

By ARLnow.com
1/16

The cleanup from Saturday’s severe storms is continuing into Sunday.

As of 9 a.m., Dominion is reporting 20,394 customers still without power in Arlington. That’s down from more than 34,000 immediately after the storm. Arlington makes up about two thirds of the 31,603 outages Dominion is reporting across Northern Virginia.

Dominion says it has 170 bucket trucks deployed and is working “as safely and quickly as possible to restore service.” Due to the large volume of trees and utility lines down across the region — particularly in Arlington — Dominion has not yet been able to provide estimates for when power will be restored.

Along with power outages, readers have reported Xfinity TV and internet service outages in parts of the county. The trees that brought down power lines also brought down cable lines in many locations.

The GW Parkway remains closed in both directions between the Beltway and Spout Run in Arlington due to a large number of downed trees.

From parkway spokesman Mark Maloy:

Due to the storm that moved through the northern Virginia area on Saturday afternoon, numerous trees fell across the travel lanes of the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Currently, the northern section of the George Washington Memorial Parkway (from Spout Run Parkway to the Capital Beltway) is closed as tree crews work to remove trees from the roadway.  This closure will remain in place on Sunday until an assessment has been completed and all hazardous trees removed.  There are numerous other trees downed in areas of the George Washington Memorial Parkway and the Clara Barton Parkway and the National Park Service is continuing to assess the damage and clear trees. We encourage drivers to use caution in the area and if they encounter any downed trees on the George Washington Memorial Parkway to call US Park Police at 202-610-7500.

Among the more dramatic storm impacts was a large window that blew out of an apartment building in Clarendon amid the damaging wind gusts.

Witnesses tell ARLnow that the window came from the top of The Reserve at Clarendon building along Washington Blvd, between N. Highland and N. Garfield street.

“Windows missing from 11th floor unit at the Reserve, window frames and glass all over Washington Blvd, dented and damaged parked car [with] window frame next to it,” a reader tells ARLnow. “[The damaged] car was parked outside of Clarendon 1021, a block away. Cracked windows in the building where the Clarendon Orange Theory is (across the street from Reserve). Crazy!”

Police closed streets around the building due to the falling glass, though the roads have since reopened.

“At 7:05 p.m., police were dispatched to the 3000 block of Washington Boulevard for the report of two windowpanes that had fallen,” Arlington County police spokeswoman Ashley Savage confirmed to ARLnow. “No injuries were reported and the roads closed in the area have reopened.”

Videos posted online, below, show the intensity of the wind from Saturday’s storms.

Update at 11:20 a.m. on 7/31/23 — The number of outages in Arlington is down to 3,154. The GW Parkway remains closed.

Update at 3:45 p.m. — Outages are now down to 14,313. Arlington County, meanwhile, is warning people to stay out of Gulf Branch downstream from Military Road due to sewage in the water from a pump failure.

Update at 1:25 p.m. — The number of outages in Arlington has ticked down to 17,811, according to Dominion. The power company is hoping to have power restored to “most customers” later tonight.

Arlington County says the curbside collection of storm debris may take “weeks.”

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