Community Corner
Power Still Out For Many Occoquan Residents
Several hundred were without power as of about noon.
From Mayor Earnie Porta's email newsletter:
Although power was restored to the Occoquan business district last evening at about 9:45 p.m., and to much of the rest of the town shortly after 11 p.m., as of this writing we do still have several hundred town residents without power on Poplar Lane, Overlook Drive, and Fortress Way. Power surge damage to at least two homes on Poplar Lane is hindering repairs there, while Overlook Drive and Fortress Way are experiencing problems similar to those of the snow storm two years ago -- the load caused by bringing all the townhouses on at once is too much. Consequently, Dominion is working to bringing buildings on Overlook Drive and Fortress Way online one at a time. As of approximately 30 minutes ago, several buildings did have power. Dominion has also indicated that they will later do a power reliability assessment to see if they can prevent this problem from recurring on Overlook Drive and Fortress Way in the future. I appreciate everyone's continued patience, and while I know the loss of power is frustrating, I can assure you that Dominion and contractor crews have been working in Occoquan almost nonstop since approximately 4 a.m. yesterday morning to try to restore power.
As for storm-related damage, we have been very, very lucky. The only substantive flood damage was the washing away of a relatively low and weak sea wall at 307 Mill Street (photo below), which resulted in only marginal flooding during high tide periods. And wind damage appears to have been limited essentially to one gas light and some downed branches.
Find out what's happening in Lake Ridge-Occoquanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Again everyone, thank you for your patience during the storm and its aftermath. For those who are interested, the Governor's office has indicated that the best way to help storm victims is to contribute to the Virginia Disaster Relief Fund, which can be done by clicking here. Additionally, if you are able, please keep in mind that we may have some young Halloween visitors around town this evening for trick-or-treating.