SCHOOLS CLOSED, LOCAL EMERGENCY DECLARED
Woodbridge, Va. — It rained all week, but no one in the Potomac Communities – a place known for its location by the water – ever expected to be underwater.
Heavy rains brought flooding to the region Thursday, enough to cancel public school in Prince William on Friday. County officials declared a local state of emergency.
Streams and creeks topped their banks Thursday afternoon as slow moving thunderstorms inundated the region with heavy downpours, dumping up to six inches of rain on the area.
About 100 people in two mobile home parks near Marumsco Plaza along U.S. 1 were evacuated and offered a bus to a temporary Red Cross shelter at Woodbridge Senior High School on Old Bridge Road. Conditions further south on U.S. 1 weren’t any better, as swift water rescues were reported in the areas of Neabsco Road and Locust Shade Park near the Stafford County line, where at least six were reportedly pulled from their stalled vehicles.
Also in Woodbridge late Thursday, 12 apartments near the intersection of Prince William Parkway and Longview Avenue were being evacuated out of fears a retaining wall there could fail.
“Prince William County is experiencing heavy flooding, particularly on the east end near the Potomac River as heavy rainfall continues to overwhelm waterways and tributaries. Eastern Prince William County has already had over 12 inches of rain and an additional two inches is expected over the next four hours,” said county spokesman Jason Grant.
In Occoquan, streets flooded and the town’s mayor, Ernie Porta, stood out in the rain – refusing an umbrella – and turned away drivers, telling them to head for higher ground.
In Alexandria, flooding from Cameron Run forced the closure of a portion of the Capital Beltway. On I-95 south headed from south Fairfax into Prince William, lanes were open but the slow pace of cars made for a miserable commute home.
The flooding also claimed two lives in Northern Virginia on Thursday night.
The rains came from what was left of Tropical Storm Lee, the remnants of which stalled out of over the Ohio Valley and continued to bring up moisture from the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Add to that Hurricane Katia spinning near the eastern seaboard holding what was left of Lee at bay, it was the perfect scenario for the perfect storm, said WRC-TV Meteorologist Doug Kammerer.
Flood warnings from the National Weather Service were set to expire at 1:45 a.m. Friday, but forecasters kept the chance of additional showers and thunderstorms in the forecast through the weekend.
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