Hurricane Irene Might Cause Flooding in Occoquan

Hurricane Irene is still on track to hit Northern Virginia on Saturday afternoon, and residents near the Occoquan Reservoir can expect flooding.

Residents and visitors to the town of Occoquan should expect flooding along Mill Street. The Occoquan High Dam was not created to control floods and any water will not be regulated by sluice gates. Instead, as the water rises, it will pour over the dam.

"Whatever comes down the river is coming over the top of the dam at nature's command," Occoquan Mayor Earnie Porta said in a recent email.

Porta urged those curious about what the river will look like during the storm to use caution and to not put their lives in danger just to get a closer look.

For more on possible flooding in Prince William, .

Like the Northern Virginia Hurricane Irene - Patch.com page to get the latest hurricane news from all over the region.

Stay tuned, as Lake Ridge-Occoquan Patch will be the hub of the Hurricane Irene coverage in Prince William. I'll be live blogging it starting later this afternoon, and I invite you to post comments or photos directly to the live blog when I post it, and to tweet using any one of six hashtags: #HurricanePWC, #HurricaneLakeRidge #HurricaneOccoquan, #HurricaneWoodbridge, #HurricaneManassas and #HurricaneDaleCity. These tweets will be pulled into our live coverage, so that you can stay up to date on the storm.