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By WAMU’s Kathy Goldgeier
The brutal hurricane that’s heading for the Carolinas seems likely to spare the Washington region from its unrelenting rain and wind.
“The way it looks now, Florence should stay far enough to our south, leaving us with just some breezy winds and scattered showers Friday through Sunday,” said the Capital Weather Gang’s Dan Stillman. The storm could yet shift course, but forecasters are saying it appears the D.C. region will be spared the ravages of this one.
With that in mind, Montgomery County’s 80-person search and water rescue team hit the road Wednesday for South Carolina, traveling in buses loaded with boats, gear, rescue supplies and even six rescue dogs. The county fire department says the team is one of 25 similar groups from around the country heading south to help out when the potentially historic storm hits.
The Capital Weather Gang’s Jason Samenow said the storm is expected to make landfall Friday or Saturday on the border of North and South Carolina as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane. He predicted damaging winds, flash floods, widespread power outages and other catastrophic impacts. Samenow said the storm will likely be the worst to hit the area since Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
While the threat of damage has ratcheted down in the Washington region, local officials are still ready to address any problems that may arise. The governors of Maryland and Virginia, and the mayor of D.C. have all declared states of emergency, which allows them to mobilize resources, streamline coordination among agencies and apply for federal financial assistance.
Here are some of the preparations and schedule changes taking place in the Washington region as a result of the storm:
- The National Park Service is re-scheduling the weekend-long closure of the Arlington Memorial Bridge originally set for Sept. 15-17. The closure will be part of the ramp-up to major renovation of the bridge and will involve moving in a crane into place on a barge in the Potomac River. The closure is now scheduled for Sept. 22-24.
- Local power companies are lining up reinforcements and checking equipment in case of outages as a result of the storm. Pepco CEO David Velazquez said the company may call in extra crews from Chicago and Philadelphia, and has activated its own emergency personnel. “We have over 600 line personnel and over 150 tree personnel here at Pepco ready to respond to any emergency,” he said Tuesday. Dominion Energy spokeswoman Le-Ha Anderson said her company is telling its employees to get their own homes ready for the storm, so they will be prepared to come to work to restore power if outages occur.
- Transportation agencies around the region are preparing for the possibility of heavy rains and flooding. D.C.’s Department of Transportation has been trimming trees above power lines, putting equipment at flood-prone intersections and preparing generators to back up traffic signals if the power goes out. Metro said it is making sure that water pumps in its tunnels are working, and has asked paratransit customers to cancel their MetroAccess trips Thursday and Friday if possible. Virginia and Maryland transportation crews are clearing drains and warning people not to drive through flood waters.
- A number of local sport and arts events scheduled for this weekend have been canceled or postponed. Organizers advise checking with them before heading out.
- Safety officials are encouraging people to sign up with their city or county to receive weather and safety alerts via text message. And they say everyone should have water and non-perishable food on hand and should charge cell phones in advance of the storm’s arrival.
This story was originally published on WAMU.
