Hurricane Irene Aftermath

By WY Daily Staff Sunday, August 28, 2011

 

Triangle governments and citizens are working on assessing and repairing damage from Hurricane Irene.
WYDaily will continue to offer updates as we receive news. Please email your damage tips, road blockages or other related information to contactus@wydaily.com. Check WYDaily often. UPDATE: Our radio station, 92.3 The Tide, has had power restored and is on the air and available for streaming here. Our station 107.9 BACH FM is also back on the air.

We are also sharing updates on our Twitter and Facebook, where you'll find a gallery of pictures.

To help get through the list easily, you can hit "control + F" and type in a key word, which will take you to that word in the story. Search for terms such as “Williamsburg,” “Dominion,” et cetera.

Monday, August 29

UPDATED 6:33 p.m.: The City of Williamsburg will continue to operate its Emergency Operations Center. For storm-related questions or information residents should continue to call the Public Inquiry Line at 757-259-7200.

The Municipal Building's power was restored late Monday and is expected to reopen at 8 a.m. Tuesday. As of 5 p.m., 4,007 of 6,308 customers in Williamsburg were still without power. Dominion expects to have 90 to 95 percent of its entire system restored by Friday.

UPDATED 6:27 p.m.: The James City County Board of Supervisors will conduct a special meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Law Enforcement Center (LEC) located at 4600 Opportunity Way. The board will ratify the declaration of a local emergency order issued by County Administrator Bob Middaugh on Aug. 26. The board will also discuss and take further action to assist recovery efforts from Hurricane Irene. The meeting is open to the public and is being held at the LEC since the County Government Complex has no power.

UPDATED 5:44 p.m.: James City County curbside depris pickup is scheduled to begin Sept. 6. There will be one collection pass through the county to all affected areas. James City County residents can stack their storm-related debris at the edge of their property line at the curb, within 10 feet of the road, away from low-hanging wires and anything that could be hit or damaged by the truck.

Do not mix vegetative debris and construction or it will not be picked up. No hazardous materials. Do not burn debris. Vegetative debris can also be bagged in clear bags no larger than lawn or leaf-size (40 gallons or less).

Jolly Pond Convenience Center will be open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 30 for residential vegetative debris only at no charge. Proof of James City County residency is required. No commercial contractors or debris will be accepted. This free disposal will continue until Sept. 16.

Residential construction debris will be accepted only at the Jolly Pond Convenience Center with Convenience Center coupons. Coupons are available for purchase here or at Satellite Services at 3127 Forge Road or at fire stations.

Tewning Road and Toano Convenience Centers will be closed until electricity is provided.

The Community Center will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday for showers or air conditioning. Water is available by connection to a fire hydrant in front of the parking lot at Stonehouse Elementary; bring containers.

The Emergency Operations Center and Public Inquiry Line will reopen at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

UPDATED 5:17 p.m.: Colonial Williamsburg anticipates opening several more attractions Tuesday.

The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg will be open Tuesday, along with selected sites in the Historic Area. The Historic Trades, selected exhibition buildings and the Revolutionary City programming will resume.

On Tuesday, all Historic Area offerings and museums will be available to ticketed guests for half-price of a regular day admission. Admission to the Historic Area and Art Museums will continue to be complimentary on Tuesday.

Colonial Williamsburg's Lodge and restaurant are open and receiving guests. Its retail operations including hotel gift shops, Everything Williamsburg, Williamsburg at Home, Celebrations, Colonial Nursery outdoor sales and the Museum Store and Wallace Cafe. All other operations will open as power is restored.

CW shuttle buses are operating the Historic Area route, plus service to Busch Gardens and the Historic Triangle Shuttle to Jamestown and Yorktown. The Visitor Center is open to guests.

UPDATED 4:46 p.m.: York County offices in Historic Yorktown will reopen for regular business hours Tuesday.

This includes the York-Poquoson Courthouse, the County Finance Building, the County Administration Building and York Hall. The Tabb Library will reopen on Tuesday. It is expected power will be restored to the Yorktown Library by tomorrow and if that is the case, the Yorktown Library will be able to open on time as well.

Most York County parks including the Sports Complex will reopen Tuesday. New Quarter Park will remain closed at least through Sept. 6 due to downed trees.

UPDATED 4:39 p.m.: York County Schools reports that Yorktown Elementary, Yorktown Middle, York River Academy, Mt. Vernon Elementary, Magruder Elementary, Queens Lake Middle and Bruton High are still without power. Only 12-month employees and essential personnel of these schools will have a work day on Tuesday. Teachers may report, if desired, but all other staff are NOT to report to these schools. If power is restored overnight, principals will call staff in the morning with information.

York County School employees at all other locations will have a regular work day.

3:48 p.m.: The College of William and Mary will reopen its residence halls and campus offices on Tuesday. Classes will resume Wednesday. Read the full story here.

3 p.m.: City of Williamsburg will begin curbside storm debris removal at 7 a.m. on Sept. 6. Piles should be placed away from structures that would impede pickup.

2:30 p.m.: Both Historic Jamestowne and Yorktown Battlefield will reopen to the public on Tuesday.The Colonial Parkway was fully reopened on Sunday.

Although Colonial National Historical Park did not sustain any serious structural damage from Hurricane Irene, cleanup of downed trees and debris will continue as the visitor centers reopen and public programs are resumed. Restoration of utilities continues, and some tour roads and areas at both Historic Jamestowne and Yorktown Battlefield will remain closed while crews complete the cleanup.

Members of Virginia Department of Transportation are working their way road by road to allow traffic to move again throughout Irene-effected areas of the Commonwealth.

Crews are working 12-hour shifts to removed debris from the roadways. VDOT said they have cleared the bridges and other primary routes in the Greater Hampton Roads area. Now they are focusing their efforts on the secondary routes in James City and York Counties.

Though VDOT is moving through the area, drivers should continue to be cautious and note the possibility of stoplights that may not be operating. Officials recommend that drivers treat these intersections as they would 4-way stops.

Other items of note:

• VDOT will begin to remove debris from state-maintained right of ways in James City County and York County on Wednesday.
• The Jamestown Ferry is currently operating with the Williamsburg ferry, which has a 50-vehicle capacity.

Additional information is available at www.511Virginia.org , or by calling the Traffic Information Line at 757-361-3016.

12:27 p.m.: Dominion will restore power to 90 to 95 percent of the customers affected by Irene-related outages by the end of the day Friday. Seventy-five percent will be restored by the end of the workday on Wednesday.

Nearly all customers in the remaining areas, which suffered the most extreme damage, will have their electric service restored by the end of the day Saturday.

"Our goal is to restore power to our customers, particularly those that provide critical services, as quickly and as safely as we can," said Rodney Blevins, vice president of distribution operations for Dominion Virginia Power and Dominion North Carolina Power. "As of noon today, we have restored power to about 600,000 of the 1.2 million customers affected by Irene-related power outages. We are working to help ensure that our customers have power for the Labor Day weekend."

More than 6,000 people are helping restore power, including more than 2,000 workers from utilities in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina and South Carolina. An additional 800 workers will arrive today and bring the total number of bucket trucks on the job to 1,100.

"The damage caused by Irene was widespread. Trees and limbs brought down power lines and poles, and storm debris and flooding made it difficult to reach some work areas," Blevins said. "The Irene restoration effort is the company's second largest in its history, behind only Hurricane Isabel from 2003, when 1.8 million customers were affected and restoration took two weeks."

11:21 a.m.: The New Town Urgent Care Center has had its power restored and will be open by noon. They may not have phone service, but will be seeing patients today, according to Sentara spokesperson Kim Van Sickel.

She says the Emergency Department has been very busy over the past 24 hours. A few patients have storm-related injuries, and some have disease conditions that are being exacerbated by the lack of power.

11:10 a.m.: Amtrak has begun to resume operations for southern train routes, but the Northeast Regional trains between Washington and Newport News are cancelled for Monday.

10:01 a.m.: The City of Williamsburg is revising the building permit process to make it easier for residents and businesses to obtain a building permit for damage caused by Hurricane Irene. To obtain a verbal approval on a building permit, call the Planning Department/Codes Compliance office at 220-6130. The city is waiving fees for permits related to storm damage.

9:27 a.m.: The City of Williamsburg Municipal Building is closed, but the city government is functioning in Emergency Operations mode. The city shelter is now closed. For storm-related questions, call 259-7200.

The city has conducted its damage assessment and found 63 buildings were damaged, 58 of which were residential and five commercial structures. The assessment does not include property of Colonial Williamsburg or the College of William and Mary. The total cost estimates of the damage total $3.8 million ($3.7 million for residential and $85,000 for commercial).

At present, 4,603 residents are still without power. Dominion continues to assess the damage and advises that residents should be prepared for extended power outages. All city streets have been cleared except those blocked by trees tangled with power lines.

Refuse collection in Williamsburg will continue as scheduled. The city will dispose of tree debris once emergency operations have ceased. Homeowners are asked to place debris piles away from mailboxes, telephone poles, fences and utility boxes. Do not put trash, plastic, paper, concrete, lumber, metal, glass or any other nonwoody material in the piles. Burning is not permitted.

For other city services, call the following:

• Public Works: 220-6140
• Human Services: 220-6161
• Police, non-emergency: 220-2331
• Fire non-emergency: 220-6220
• Planning Department: 220-6130
• City Manager's Office: 220-6100

Sunday, August 28

8:42 p.m.: For our final update tonight, WYDaily would like to share this time-lapse video from Danny Schmidt of the storm surge from Irene hitting Jamestown.

http://www.youtube.com/user/JamestownRediscovery#p/u/0/L8c-bJyGggc

6:20 p.m.: James City County reports 7 homes destroyed, 78 homes major damage, 129 homes minor damage, 191 homes affected but habitable.

James City County residents can stack their storm-related woody debris at the edge of their property line at the curb, within 10 feet of the roadway, for pickup at a later date. Do not burn debris. Woody debris should be cut to ten foot lengths and no larger than 24 inches in diameter.

Jolly Pond Convenience Center will be open Tuesday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for residential storm debris. Fees will be waived for two weeks for the disposal of residential storm debris only. Proof of James City County residency is required. Fees are not waived for construction debris. Do not mix construction materials with woody debris.

County staff will be on hand to issue expedited building permits for the repair of structures damaged by the storm beginning Monday, August 29, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the JCC Law Enforcement Center, 4600 Opportunity Way. All fees will be waived and proof of storm damage is needed. For more information call 879-1955.

Those residents needing showers or air conditioning can visit the James City/Williamsburg Community Center at 5301 Longhill Road until 8 p.m. Sunday and on Monday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m,. which are normal operating hours.

Williamsburg will keep its shelter on Quarterpath Road open Sunday night.

5:15 p.m.: The City of Williamsburg says the Williamsburg/James City County Courthouse will be closed Monday.

4:18 p.m.: Williamsburg reports that crews are clearing debris on the  Colonial Parkway. The road is currently open between Yorktownand Queens Lake. The entire roadway should be reopened by this evening.

The Red Cross has sent out respite vehicles to various locations in Hampton Roads to share hot food, snacks and drinks with people. There is no report as to where exactly these vehicles are at any given time.

4:04 p.m.: Colonial Williamsburg hasn't announced yet when its properties will reopen to visitors, but expects its call center at 1-800-HISTORY to be fully operational Monday. CW says, "We are ready to support changes in your travel arrangements without penalty."

3:51 p.m.: York County will commence curbside hurricane debris pickups on Tuesday, September 6.

The county asks that residents have all yard vegetative debris ready and set out for curbside pickup. It is expected to take crews more than a week to service all the neighborhoods. For a helpful graphic showing how to put debris out for pickup, click here.

3:36 p.m.: WY Daily Staffer Eric Pesola tells us the Lowe's on Mooretown Road has sold about 600 Generac 650 generators in the last few days, and at this time, has one pallet left. They will get another truck shipment from Virginia Beach in about three to four hours.

3:16 p.m.: York County's government offices will be closed Monday due to power outages. The closure includes the York-Poquoson Courthouse, the County Finance Building, the Administration Building and York Hall. The Yorktown and Tabb Libraries will also be closed, due to lack of power.

All York County parks, including the Sports Complex, will be closed Monday. All previously scheduled activities have been cancelled.

The Senior Center of York will also be closed Monday.

3:10 p.m.: Williamsburg's refuse collection will occur as regularly scheduled on Monday and Tuesday, and recycling will occur Wednesday.

Williamsburg Area Transit Authority will resume most bus route services beginning 6 a.m. Monday. WATA will only run hourly service until further notice. Services still suspended include: the Surry Connector, the Williamsburg Trolley and half-hour services. The Green Line will resume service at 7 a.m. Tuesday. Call 757-220-5493 for more information.

2:35 p.m.: Cox Communications has this guidance for customers regarding their services:

• If your power is working but you are not able to access Cox services, please reset all of your Cox equipment. To reset equipment, power down and unplug devices, wait a few seconds and then restart.
• Technicians have been deployed and are working to assess and restore service to impacted customers. Residential customers requiring assistance should call the Cox Customer Care Center at 757-222-1111. Please be aware they are receiving a high call volume.
• Most service outages are due to power outages and wind damage.

2:27 p.m.: Williamsburg's refuse collection will continue as regularly scheduled this week. Some residents have had power restored; at last count, 4,914 residents are without power.

2:03 p.m.: The Jamestown Scotland Ferry will open with a limited schedule Monday and be fully operational Tuesday.

VDOT lists numerous road closures, especially in York County, at the 511 Virginia site.

1:51 p.m.: The Virginia Department of Emergency Management reports about 2.5 million people are without power in the state, four people died in the storm, 238 roads are currently closed and 3,000 people are in shelters.

In Williamsburg, 5,439 residents were without power at 1:46 p.m.

In James City County, 29,505 customers are without power. The shelter will close at 3 p.m. today, but the Community Center will remain open for those seeking air conditioning or showers. Water is available at Stonehouse Elementary; bring your own container.

1:45 p.m.: The College of William and Mary has cancelled classes for Monday and Tuesday. College offices will be close Monday, but staff should report to work at the regular time on Tuesday. Only essential personnel should report for work Monday.

As of Sunday afternoon, large portions of campus were still without power, including several residence halls that typically house 800 students. Students left campus Thursday and Friday. Dominion cannot provide a time when the college will have power restored.

The childcare center will remain closed until power is restored.

1:02 p.m.: WATA tweeted none of its vehicles sustained damage, so service will resume tomorrow. We'll post more information as soon as we get it.

James City County's website is back up, and its shelter at the Community Center will close at 3 p.m. The center will remain open for those needing air conditioning or showers until 8 p.m. tonight.

12:56 p.m.: George Williams tells us neighbors are working together to clear trees at Holly Forks Road, but have only been successful clearing to Richardson Road in James City County.

Lisa Thomas of Ford's Colony reports power is back on in the News Road area.

Linda Laneham of Williamsburg says a tree has blocked one end of Powell Street and another tree, tangled with wires, has blocked the end of Burns Lane. Two houses were bisected by trees on Burns Lane, she says.

12:42 p.m.: James City County crews are assessing storm damage and Dominion Power crews are beginning their work to restore power. At this time, there is no information about progress.

Residents can stack their storm-related woody debris to the curb for pick-up later and are asked NOT to burn debris. Jolly Pond Convenience Center will be open Monday and storm debris can be taken there.

Both JCSA and Newport News Waterworks water are safe to drink and do not need to be boiled. Water is available at Stonehouse Elementary; bring a container. Residents needing showers or air conditioning can visit the James City Community Center at 5301 Longhill Road.

County parks, convenience centers and libraries remain closed.

The county's website and Internet access is still down, but citizens can find local information through Twitter, Facebook, the emergency hotline at 757-875-2424 or call the public inquiry line at 757-564-2140.

As of 12:15 p.m., 5,439 Williamsburg residents were still without power, which is the majority of the city.

12:38 p.m.: National Park Service crews are conducting assessments of impacts from Hurricane Irene. Crews are clearing debris from the Colonial Parkway, which is currently open between Yorktown and Queens Lake. The entire roadway should be reopened by this evening.

Historic Jamestowne and Yorktown Battlefield are without power and telephone service and will remain closed Monday. Removing debris from tour roads will take several days. Initial inspections have shown no damage to park buildings, but extensive numbers of trees are down. No injuries were reported.

12:22 p.m.: WATA will be running limited service on Monday begining at 6 a.m. All bus routes open for HOURLY service only. Services still suspended on Monday: the Surry Connector, the Green line, the Williamsburg Trolley, and half-hour service.

Governor Bob McDonnell tweeted today that airports in the state received some minor damage but all are operational; some trains are delayed.

Williamsburg reports The Virginia Penisula Regional Jail has a generator and is currently on generator power, but it suspended visitation until power is restored. The courthouse has power; WYDaily will check to see if cases will be heard tomorrow. Check back for more information.

12:04 p.m.: Colonial Williamsburg tweeted that CW has some trees down, but no damage to hotel properties despite the fact that there were a few gusts up 70 miles per hour.

11:56 a.m.: George Williams of Holly Forks tells us Fire Tower Road in James City County is completely blocked with power lines and trees.

11:37 a.m.: Virginia Department of Transportation crews worked overnight clearing roadways. At first light, all areas were assessed and crews have continued road clearing activities.

The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel opened at 7:15 a.m. Pumps were deployed before the onset of the storm to remove water when rainy conditions became moderate. Pumping, debris removal and inspection were all completed before the tunnel was reopened.

The Route 17 James River Bridge is open. VDOT will be performing test lifts at all area bridges, including the James River Bridge and the Coleman Bridge.

Primary Route 460 and Route 17 are passable, but in some cases, the routes are down to a single lane due to debris.

Motorists are asked to be cautious while traveling today, be alert for crews and be aware of hazardous conditions.

11:31 a.m.: Riverside Hospital in Newport News was fully operational during the entire storm. In all four of Riverside's hospitals, only one patient was treated for a storm-related injury. Extra staff are ready and standing by in case there are injuries from cleanup.

Sentara Williamsburg reports emergency department volume has picked up since the storm passed, but currently only two minor storm-related injuries are being treated in the emergency room. So far, no patients have been admitted with storm-related injuries.

Urgent Care in New Town will be open today.

Both hospitals caution people be careful and exercise proper precautions during cleanup.

11:20 a.m.: In York County, the Riverwalk Landing Piers will be closed indefinitely due to damage from the hurricane. The county's Hurricane Hotline will be up and operational all day, at 890-3674. Several downed trees and power lines have been reported, but most roads are passable at this time. Currently, only West Queens and East Queens Drive are impassable due to downed trees.

The county closed its Grafton School Complex shelter this morning. Anyone in need of shelter is advised to go to Tabb High School. Most people have started heading home, and all evacuation orders have been lifted.

The county's Waste Management Center is open until 4 p.m. Sunday for citizen drop offs and will be open regular hours starting Monday. The curbside pickup schedule for debris will be announced Monday.

When putting out debris, residents must make sure debris doesn't block the roadway; debris is not near trees, poles or other structures or under power lines or over utility manholes; debris is placed within 10 feet of the roadway; debris is NOT cup up into small pieces, but is no larger than 24 inches in diameter and 10 feet in length; debris is separated by category into electronics, large appliances, hazardous waste, vegetative debris, construction debris and household garbage.

11:09 a.m.: Cox Communications reports its business and technical team members are assessing the state of operation. Once the assessment is complete, technicians will be deployed to begin work to restore service.

Service outages are primarily due to power outages. Nearly 75 percent of Cox residential and business customers were not impacted with service outages during the storm, but service outages have been reported throughout the region.

Cox follows Dominion Power in service restoration. Service will be restored first to core infrastructure, emergency and government/municipal customers and then to residential and commercial entities. All Cox Solutions stores will be closed Monday.

9:51 a.m.: Dominion Power reports the following: As of 8:30 a.m., 433,000 customers in Hampton Roads and Northern North Coarolina affected by Hurricane Irene are without service. This is 56 percent of Dominion customers. (See previous update below for Triangle outage numbers).

This has been the second-largest restoration effort in Dominion history.

This morning Dominion continues responding to emergency calls and restoring critical services (911 centers, hospitals, water treatment and pumping stations, et cetera). Road debris and high water will make travel difficult in many areas today, however, they will work closely with VDOT to gain access where needed.

Dominion expects to have damage assessment completed by noon on Monday. This assessment includes conducting aerial patrol of transmission lines. The power company asks for everyone’s patience while workers complete this important restoration step because it allows them to identify the extent of damage, prioritize restoration so Dominion can restore power to the greatest number of customers in the shortest amount of time, and accurately predict when restoration will be complete.

In excess of 5,000 line workers and support personnel are on tap to battle the effects of Irene, including line workers from Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Customers are asked to report their outage. If you experience an outage, it is important that you report it. Dominion will not know your power is out unless you tell them. Every call to the hotline allows the system to narrow down the precise location of the outage so that Dominion can quickly and safely get crews to the right sites. Call the toll-free outage hotline 1-866-DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357).

Please help protect linemen when you see them on the roadside making emergency repairs by moving over from the lane nearest the workers or by slowing down until you pass the site of the repairs.

Plugging a generator into a regular household outlet can energize dead power lines and injure neighbors or utility workers. Customers should connect individual appliances that have their outdoor-rated power cords directly to the receptacle outlet of the generator, or connect these cord-connected appliances to the generator with the appropriate outdoor-rated power cord having a sufficient wire gauge to handle the electrical load.

9:20 a.m.: Dominion Power reconfirms that nearly all Williamsburg city residents are without power; 4,887 residents are without power, and there are 6,308 total power customers. In James City County, 31,589 customers are without power out of 36,053 total customers, and in York County there are 19,565 without power out of 25,586.

Williamsburg reminds city residents to look on the city website for inforamtion on the debris removal policy after severe weather.

Dominion reports that they will have more information on when power will be reestablished by Monday at noon. Right now, they are telling customers to brace for a maximum of one to two weeks without power.

Dominion reminds people using generators to only connect generators to outside power cords. Also, Dominion suggests unplugging all major appliances and urges citizens to use caution around downed power lines.

The Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel is open again, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation. The Downtown Tunnel is also open, but the Midtown Tunnel is still closed at this time.

James City County residents who need water can stop by Stonehouse Elementary at 3651 Rochembeau Drive after 10 a.m. today. Bring a container. County water is still safe to drink without boiling.

7:30 a.m.: The City of Williamsburg and James City County both report their water is safe and that there is no need to boil it before consuming.

The Williamsburg Area Transit Authority is currently not running bus service, but WATA is assessing damage and will report when service resumes.

The City of Williamsburg reports that most of the city is without power, but that all city streets are cleared of trees except those tangled with power lines. The city inquiry line is 259-7200. There were 12 residents in the city shelter Saturday, but Sunday morning five left.

Dominion Power warns people to stay away from downed power lines, and says they should all be treated as though they are energized. Dominion also says people without power should prepare for the possibility of not having power restored for one to two weeks.

James City County lost its website in the storm. Residents can get information from the county’s Twitter feed or its Facebook page or by calling 875-2424 or 564-2140.

As of Saturday, about 55 county residents were at the shelter in the Williamsburg/James City Community building.

Saturday night, the county reported that there were many trees down, power lines down, and roads not passable. A brief list of roads affected includes: a portion of News Road, part of John Tyler Highway near Jamestown High School, part of Ironbound Road, Route 199 West at Mounts Bay Road, and I64 West before the Busch gardens exit.

This is a very minimal list; if you have any visual confirmation of roads that aren’t passable, please email contactus@wydaily.com.

York County officials confirmed Saturday that the Advance Auto Parts on Merrimac Trail collapsed around 3 p.m. Saturday. Fire and Life Safety personnel successfully rescued someone trapped inside.

The county reported that the back and front of the building separated from the main building and the roof collapsed into the store. The trapped individual managed to crawl out of the building shortly after Fire and Life safety personnel arrived.

The cause of the roof collapse is under investigation.

Also, VDOT closed Route 17 Northbound from Fort Eustis Boulevard to the Coleman Bridge. Some roof damage due to falling tree limbs has been reported at houses on Hillburne Lane, Sheriff's Place, Parchment Boulevard and Charles River Landing.