Update: More than 80,000 Without Power in Northern Virginia, DC

With Hurricane Sandy, increasing outages are being reported across Northern Virginia and the District Monday.

For Tuesday storm and outage updates, click here.   Update 8:30 p.m. Monday:  More than 80,000 people are now without power in Northern Virginia.  Hurricane Sandy officially made landfall in southern New Jersey around 8 p.m. and has morphed into Post-Tropical Storm Sandy, but the change in name means little about the strength of the storm. Rain and strong winds will continue through tonight and into Tuesday morning. One area of Huntington has been evacuated, and trees have caused damage to homes in McLean, Burke and elsewhere.  Update 6:35 p.m. Monday: As Hurricane Sandy makes landfall sometime this evening with its center over New Jersey, power outages in Northern Virginia are increasing quickly. More than 50,000 people are now without …

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UPDATE: Hurricane Sandy: State Agencies, Police On Standby

Gov. Bob McDonnell reminded residents to prepare for power outages and cold weather in a telephone press conference Saturday afternoon. Dominion warns of prolonged outages.

(UPDATE 4:10 p.m.): Power outages for its customers could be "prolonged" in Northern Virginia due to outages from the coming storm, Dominion Virginia Power advised in a news release sent out Saturday afternoon. "This storm system will build in intensity over time and will remain a force for days, not just hours, causing major damage and extensive power outages," said Rodney Blevins, vice president of Distribution Operations, in a news release. "Its effects will be felt for days along much of the East Coast." Dominion noted that it will supplement its linemen and contractor tree trimmers with additional utility workers from other states.  "When customers lose their electric service during a major storm, their primary question is when their …

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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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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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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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Poll: When the Power Goes Out—What Do You Miss Most?

Sudden wind storm Friday night was one of the worst to hit Northern Virginia, leaving thousands without power.

In the aftermath of the powerful derecho storm that hit Northern Virginia Friday night, thousands are still without power three days later, suffering through high temperatures with no air-conditioning, watching food spoil and feeling disconnected without TV, Internet and in some cases phone service. On Monday afternoon, Dominion Power reported that about 160,000 in Northern Virginia were still without power. Many local residents checked into local hotels to escape the heat or found local coffee shops to charge up phones. Were you without power or are you still waiting for the lights to come back on? What do you miss most when the power goes out? Take our poll and feel free to add your comments about what you miss most when the power goes …

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Mike Petrucci

10:28 am on Friday, July 27, 2012

It's funny because I could TOTALLY go without A/C as long as I have Internet. Wow. I've really become that connected. I need to go outside for a run now, hahah   more ›

UPDATE: Alexandria Recovers from 'Derecho' Storm

ACPS and some summer programs Monday canceled.

Update 1:30 p.m. Monday: Between 13,000 and 11,000 Dominion customers in Alexandria remain without power  — — — — Update 7:10 p.m. Sunday: All Alexandria City Public Schools are closed on Monday. Only essential employees should report to work, according to a statement from ACPS sent this evening. What's Postponed, What's Not... The Campagna Center Summer Programs and all Campagna Center Early Childhood Programs have been postponed. This includes Summer Safari, Early Learning Center, Early Head Start program, and Building Better Futures. Registration for Higher Achievement activities and Adult Education program registration is also postponed.  The Alexandria City School Board organizational meeting is still scheduled for 8 a.m. Monday. The …

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Jim Miller

3:31 pm on Monday, July 2, 2012

Yes, didn't you know that Mayor Euille and ALL of the Alexandria City Council are put on a special 'high priority' status to make absolutely sure that they have power to their homes, and their businesses, as applicable to each them, before anyone else's power in Alexandria gets restored? If you believe that, well, wow. What a question.   more ›