City Manager: Falls Church 'Stable,' 15% Remain Without Power

Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields reported to the News-Press this afternoon that conditions in F.C. are what he called “stable” in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy’s impact, while about 15 percent of the City, including City Hall, the Community Center, Mt. Daniel Elementary and public library, remains without power as of this hour.

While 17 streets were originally reported blocked or partially blocked to traffic due to fallen trees and branches, as of this afternoon only two streets in the City remain closed to traffic — Lincoln Ave. and Irving Street. On Lincoln, a large tree has fallen into the street dragging power lines with it. City Hall and the Community Center are operating on back-up generators, but while the Community Center is open to the public, City Hall is not. The generators are powering only the police department and a couple other rooms at City Hall, where Shields was posted today to stay on top of developments.

Shields also told the News-Press that three pump stations (McLean, Chesterbrook and Willston) in the Falls Church water system are currently operating on backup generators, and that all the tanks remain at high levels and in full service.

Remarkably, there have been no reports of flooding or backflows into homes, Shields said, even though about 7 inches of rain fell on the City. Shields said that the rainfall being over an extended period contributed to the lack of flooding, and that compared to the “derecho” storm last May, the damage has been comparatively minimal. “The ‘derecho’ was a very serious storm,” he said, compared to Hurricane Sandy.

Shields said that he hoped power would be restored in time for all normal City services to be up and running by tomorrow. The City will waive all brush and branch collection fees in the coming week.