Very serious situation in Richmond, VA

[jaysonx]

If we can focus our attention away from Frances for a minute, some areas of Richmond are currently under 15 FEET of water.

I have tried contacting my parents on the southside, but it looks like their phone and power is out. Some areas have recieved 15+ inches of rain! Local news is reporting major flooding and there have been fatalities

Here is some info that I have been able to collect so far:


http://www.nbc12.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WWBT/MGArticle/WBT_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031777621783

http://www.wric.com/Global/story.asp?S=2234769

and almost 100,000 without power (probably why my parents didnt answer the phone)

http://www.dom.com/news/richmond.jsp

all links time sensitive.



Look at those totals so far!

[hurricanedude]

yeah...i heard this...and the Dam is about to break in the area....a lot of Richmond Metro under a MANDATORY EVACUATION!!!

[Pileus]

Jason, how far are they from Falling Creek Spillway? Heard water is beginning to come over it now

[hurricanedude]

* AT 1000 PM EDT...CHESTERFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY OFFICIALS HAD
ORDERED MANDATORY EVACUATIONS NEAR THE FALLING CREEK RESERVOIR
DAM. WATER IS NOW OVERTOPPING THE SPILLWAY...AND DAM FAILURE IS
POSSIBLE. THOSE ORDERED TO EVACUATE ARE INSTRUCTED TO GO TO
MEADOWBROOK HIGH SCHOOL.

* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING...THOSE AREAS NEAR THE FALLING CREEK
RESERVOIR DAM...INCLUDING MANY IN THE MEADOWBROOK AREA.

THIS FLOOD WARNING IS ISSUED DUE TO THE POSSIBLE FAILURE OF
THE FALLING CREEK RESERVOIR DAM.

[jaysonx]

Jason, how far are they from Falling Creek Spillway? Heard water is beginning to come over it now

Thank god they are not in the flood area... They are on the southwest side of the city, off 360 as it gets close to Midlothian. I have read reports of trees down, power outages and a possible train derailment in the area. I am hoping that they are ok for the time being.

[Steve]

This is a case of NHC dropping the ball and passing the buck IMHO. Bastardi was all over the differences with Gaston where his call for Charley inland flopped (learning from one's mistakes). The front was too far west and he had all the room in the world to keep rolling along. He also kept an excellent satellite and radar presentation all day. Even yours truly called for localized areas of 10"+ when they were saying 3-5". Gaston wasn't hard to figure out at all - even without any synoptic reasoning. Things were pretty clear to this untrained eye.

Steve

[TLHR]

Hope there isn't any surge up the Chesapeake like there was with Isabel.

Like we saw in Houston 2 years ago, slow moving tropical storms can be deadly. More people die from water than the wind.

[jwcaneme]

Things are setteling down in Richmond now. Historic areas in downtown have had 10 feet of water in some buildings. 11.53 inches measured at CBS affiliate near downtown since 2:30pm. Gaston strengthened all day. Usually occurs nearer the coast but the pivot from NE to ENE kept Richmond in the strongest band all afternoon. Lots of damage to show in the morning. Gov declares state of emergency and rescues continue now of trapped people in cars, buses and buildings. Wow!

[Steve]

wow jw. Glad you made it through alright. If you get a chance to post any good photo links tomorrow to local print or broacast media that you run across, drop me a PM for the thread. Sounds vicious. SE LA has a real problem with slow moving tropical storms as well as I'm sure you know.

Steve

[countbob]

This as been a huge mess in the metro area. For mant it is catastrophic. I live on high ground so did not get any flooding but many, many people were in harms way. TWC Local on the Eights forecast the possibility of over 2 inches of rain. Well, that did happened but no one forecast the huge amounts we received.

Jaysonx - Have you heard from your parents? I hope they are okay. What reports do you have about fatalities? I have been watching local coverage since noon and have heard no reports about deaths. I really hope that what you heard is incorrect.

Keep us posted on your folks.

- cb

[jaysonx]

Still havent gotten through to my parents, hopefully I can contact them tomorrow. The house should not be prone to flooding, but I am concerned about trees falling down. We have some very large Oak's in our yard that made it through Isabel, but I can't ever recall a time when we would have recieved as much rain as today.

As far as the fatalities are concerned, I heard rumors about the Bottoms Up Pizza roof collapsing in on 20 some odd people who were on the second floor of the building (first floor was flooded). These are all second hand accounts, so you never know what is true and what isn't. We can only hope for the best at this point.

Thanks for your concern, it means a lot.

[btsgmdad]

Gaston has turned out to be a very bad boy indeed.
Thoughts and prayers to all in VA.

[wlfpack81]

My dad drives from Hampton to Richmond and back 5 days a week for work. It took him 3 hours just to get through downtown Richmond alone as he was trying to come home after work today. Needless to say I was worried for a while b/c when I heard what was going on in Richmond I'd figure he'd have troubles and I tried to call him to see how he was doing but his cell phone wasn't answering. I couldn't help but think the worst but he got through to my mom and was able to tell her the deal and thankfully he made it home fine.

[LAwxrgal]

That's the thing about these tropical systems. No matter how "weak" they appear to be, they are always dangerous. Some, like Gaston, don't have as much wind, but dump copious amounts of rain. Others have lots of wind damage that can destroy homes.

I hope everyone in Richmond is okay.

[btsgmdad]

Glad to hear he's OK.