Community Corner

Saturday Morning: No Power Throughout McLean, Few Traffic Signals Operating

Giant open in downtown.

 

Saturday Morning: There is no power throughout McLean including downtown. The McLean District Police Station is without power.

Few traffic lights are working including ones at major downtown intersections. Be careful

Find out what's happening in McLeanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The traffic signals at Great Falls Road and Dolley Madison Boulevard are working because they are connected to a generator.

The Giant, (where McLen Patch is working) is one of the few places with power. There is a long line for Starbucks.

Find out what's happening in McLeanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

UPDATE 11:37pm. No more wind in McLean. Steady rain. A bit of thunder remains.

At least it's a lot cooler. There is traffic on the roads.

UPDATE: 11:18pm. Dominion Power reports that 20,000 Fairfax customers are without power.

UPDATE 11:07pm. Dominion Power reporting that nearly 400,000 customers are without power in Northern Virginia. The company has 800,000 customers.

Total blackness surrounds us here in west McLean. No street lights. No houselights.

Only occasional flashes of lightening.  Lots of thunder. Hearing lots of rains.

Tips from Dominion Power on what to do before power is restored:

If electricity has been interrupted:

  • Turn off major appliances such as heat pumps, water heaters and stoves. Unplug other appliances such as TVs, stereos, microwaves and computers. This will prevent damage to appliances and possible overloads to the company's system when power is restored.
  • Listen to your local radio station on your car or battery-powered radio for regular news and weather updates. Don't rely on your neighbors to report your outage. Call Dominion at 1-866-DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357).
  • Post a list of contents on your freezer door to minimize the number of times you open it.
  • Leave one lamp or light on so you will be able to recognize when power is restored.
  • If using portable or camp-type stoves or lanterns for cooking and lighting, ensure that the area is adequately ventilated.
  • Stay away from fallen wires, flooded areas and debris. Treat all fallen wires and anything touching them as though they are energized.
  • Follow safe operating procedures for generators. Never operate one inside your home or in an enclosed space, such as a garage.
  • Plugging a generator into a regular household outlet can energize "dead" power lines and injure neighbors or utility workers. Customers should connect individual appliances that have their outdoor-rated power cords directly to the receptacle outlet of the generator, or connect these cord-connected appliances to the generator with the appropriate outdoor-rated power cord having a sufficient wire gauge to handle the electrical load.
  • Exhaust fumes contain carbon monoxide and can be deadly, so run your generator outside with proper ventilation. Store the fuel for your generator safely.
  • Visually inspect the area around your electricity meter. If you detect or suspect any damage, call us at 1-866-DOM-HELP.

UPDATE: 11:05. Call this number if you are without power: 866-366-4357.

UPDATE:11pm. The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning.  At 9:44 PM severe thunderstorms were detected moving into Fairfax County.  Centreville and Chantilly should expect to see the storm impact with winds of up to 80 MPH and potential hail to the size of a quarter. Move indoors to a sturdy building and stay away from windows.

ORIGINAL STORY: Thunderstorms and lightening have left parts of McLean without power.

McLean Patch lives in west McLean and our power went off about 15 minutes ago.

Dominion Power reports that 33 customers in Northern Virginia are without power.

Fairfax City was also reported without power.


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