Waters Recede, Extent of Damage Remains Unknown

By LoudounExtra.com staff

Monday, May 12, 2008

A nor'easter damaged at least one bridge and inundated several roads in Loudoun County with inches of water on Sunday and Monday.

But while the storm is winding down, the cleanup and assessment of the damage is just beginning.

"It's a county-wide problem as of now," said Dustin Sternbeck, a public information officer with the Loudoun County Fire Department. "[But] we won't have too big of a grip until [Tuesday] morning ... It's a waiting game right now."

Several bridges had been affected by flooding, including Crooked Bridge, which crosses Goose Creek to the south of Leesburg, he said. And according to the National Weather Service, a flood warning for several areas surrounding Goose Creek will remain in effect until Tuesday afternoon.

Crooked Bridge Lane resident Lori Latka said that most of the 51 people who live across the bridge were essentially trapped in their homes Monday morning when a section of the bridge that spans Goose Creek was damaged by floodwater.

"We can't get out," she said, "There's no way out except across that bridge, or there's a back way out through a farm, but … it's not really passable to get out that way."

The Crooked Bridge has been standing for over 40 years, said Latka, and to her memory, the extent of this damage is unprecedented in the 16 years she's lived here.

"Usually what will happen is [the water] will come up, will run around the bridge, or it may run over the top of it," she said. "[But] you can kind of tell going down there now that it's not at all clear that there's going to be a bridge there when the water goes down. You can see the railings of the bridge but you can tell that the whole surface of the bridge has been pushed up … what you can't tell is whether or not it's still sitting on the pillars."

No injuries during the flooding were reported. At least 25 roads were still closed as of 5 p.m. Monday.

The storm also caused significant power outages in the area. About 2,530 outages were recorded in Leesburg and 172 sites were still without power there at 5 p.m. on Monday, according to Dan Genest, Dominion Virginia Power spokesman.

He expected most homes would have power restored by midnight.

A few people were rescued during the storm. Kraig Troxell, spokesman for the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, said there were two water rescues made early Monday morning.

One occurred at 6 a.m. on Lincoln Road and Forest Mills Road, near the Purcellville area.

"Two people were actually stuck in a car in a flooding area," he said. "They were recovered … and the vehicle was eventually pulled out."

The second reported incident happened around 2 a.m. Monday, also near Purcelleville. An abandoned vehicle was pulled out of a flooding waterway, said Troxell.

More than 4 inches of rain were recorded at Dulles International Airport in the 24 hours before 8 a.m. on Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

Wind gusts of 40mph were also recorded there around 2 a.m. on Sunday, gradually decreasing in strength as the storm passed overhead.

"If [the storm] had struck in January we might be under lots of snow, but as it turns out -- because it's warmer and it's May -- we got a lot of rain," said Howard Silverman, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service in Sterling. "It could have been much worse."

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