Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency in Virginia on Wednesday in response to heavy rain and flooding.
McAuliffe’s action calls the Virginia National Guard and the Virginia Defense Force to active duty, and allocates a maximum of $2,630,000 to local governments to address related community issues.
State agencies are attempting to recover from Tuesday’s rain while simultaneously preparing for the coming of Hurricane Joaquin.
University spokesperson Anthony de Bruyn said students should be cautious this weekend, especially if travelling.
“Members of the University community should keep an eye on the weather and be prepared for any significant impacts including travel disruptions, flooding and power outages,” de Bruyn said.
Doug Ehman, manager of the Charlottesville City Hall Parks Division, said Parks and Recreation is already bracing for two upcoming storms.
“We’re monitoring conditions and streams, looking for trees that are leaning, picking up anything that can fly, picking up deck furniture off of pools,” Ehman said. “We’re servicing all our vehicles in case we need to use them.”
Tuesday’s heavy rain caused flash floods requiring some drivers to be rescued from their cars. While most roads have been repaired, three roads — two in Fauquier County and one in Louisa County — were still closed on Thursday morning.
Hurricane Joaquin — now classified as a Category 4 hurricane — is threatening to reverse progress fighting the flooding. The consensus among forecast models is that the hurricane will move northward and accelerate toward the Commonwealth tomorrow, said Jerry Stenger, director of the Virginia office of the American Association of State Climatologists.
“Its track is still widely debated among various forecast models, but the general consensus is that it will continue on a northward track, and it will start accelerating its forward motion on Friday,” he said.
The track of Joaquin and its proximity to Virginia will determine how much wind and rainfall the state receives.
It is possible Hurricane Joaquin will also damage roads and cause slow traffic, Stacy Londrey, said a spokesman for the Culpeper District Department of Transportation. Most University students will be able to go home over reading days, but should exercise caution.
“The rain is supposed to be pretty heavy on Friday,” Londrey said.
The heavy rain will further loosen already saturated soil, which could cause additional traffic and electric problems, Stenger said.
“We could see trees and limbs going down, especially with the winds on Friday night expected to pick up to 25 miles per hour,” he noted. This leads to a high possibility for power outages in the area.
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