Good Tuesday morning, Alexandria!
☀️ Today’s weather: Showers are likely today with another thunderstorm possible after 2 p.m. There’s a 60% chance of precipitation, so bring an umbrella. Tomorrow, at least, should be a sunny day.
🚨 You need to know
Katie Waynick, the author of the popular DrainALX account, chronicled an all too familiar experience for Alexandrians during last night’s flooding.
“Another day spent sheltering in the basement from a tornado warning to wonder if I’ll have to run my baby back upstairs due to flooding,” Waynick wrote. “This shit is old.”
Waynick wasn’t alone. Alexandrians took to social media yesterday to express frustrations that, after years of stormwater investment, areas of the city were still completely submerged when a thunderstorm rolls through town.
Hey @AlexandriaVAGov we’ve been waiting for you to fix this for 10 years. Water and sewage are core responsibilities. Why is your NUMBER 1 project being delayed another two years? The community has sustained millions in damages. Fix it! #AlexandriaFlood #flooding pic.twitter.com/5iDcynuTRH
— Katie McAuliffe (@Kmca58) August 14, 2023
@fox5dc @MatthewCappucci @JenDelgadoFOX Old Town Alexandria on King Street pic.twitter.com/LbSuQkzpfQ
— Drighteous (@Drighteous) August 14, 2023
Even Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson chimed in to say there’s a sense of deja vu to reports of downed trees and flooded intersections.
This feels like deja vu, but we have trees down throughout the City and numerous flooded intersections.
Please DO NOT drive through standing water! Turn around.
Thus far, we have avoided major power outages. Our teams are throughout the City supporting residents in response. pic.twitter.com/W2PlCYoaBh
— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) August 14, 2023
While there was some enthusiasm that, in some places, stormwater improvements seemed to help, Wilson pointed out that the scale of the storm last night was significantly different than some of the intense flooding from years before. Yesterday’s rain was not a stress test for the city’s stormwater improvements.
Certainly having maximum capacity is a great thing, but..
Today we had 1.6" in an hour.
7/2019 was 3.3" in an hour
7/2020 was 2.5" in a half-hour
8/2021 was 5.4" over a few hours
Completely different scale of volume/intensity.
— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) August 14, 2023