Alexandria was spared from significant flooding this week after remnants of Hurricane Ida swept through the East Coast. The only flooding found was on lower King Street in Old Town, where businesses laid sandbags at windows and doorways.
“We’re open inside, but if you want to eat you’re probably going to have to come barefoot,” a hostess at Mai Thai told ALXnow on Wednesday.
Alexandria is under a Flash Flood Watch until Thursday morning, as the city has given away sandbags and cleared storm drains in preparation of remnants of Hurricane Ida.
The Flash Flood Watch is in effect until 8 am. Thursday.
Alexandria could receive refugees from Afghanistan — “Currently, it is believed that many of the Afghan evacuees will settle in the U.S., including Alexandria, under Special Immigrant Visas, which are given to Iraqi or Afghan nationals who have been employed by the U.S. Armed Forces as a translator or interpreter, or has been employed by a contractor of the United States government overseas. SIVs are eligible for the same resettlement benefits as refugees for up to eight months after arrival. They arrive with legal permanent resident status and can apply for citizenship after five years.” [City of Alexandria]
Bishop Ireton grad chosen for Visa Black Scholar and Jobs Program — “Luke Pilot, an Alexandria resident who attended Bishop Ireton High School, is one of the 50 students selected for the program. Pilot is attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.” [Patch]
Michael Johnson’s grandfather, Albert, died two months before Michael was born and is buried somewhere in Douglass Memorial Cemetery. Where he is exactly buried is unclear, since Albert’s gravestone and several others have been lost as recent flooding threatens to wash away a historic Black cemetery.
The cemetery has been a burial site for Black Alexandrians since 1827 and was named after Frederick Douglass after the abolitionist leader died in 1895. Records who that around 2,000 people were buried in the cemetery until burials stopped in 1974.
(Updated 4:45 p.m.) The National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Warning for Alexandria and the surrounding area. The warning comes after a Flash Flood Watch was put in effect until 11 p.m.
Two-to-four inches of rainfall an hour is expected, according to NWS.
What a busy week in Alexandria. Here’s the rundown.
Alexandria City Public Schools reopened their doors to full-time in-person instruction on Tuesday, and there have been a few hiccups. On Friday, we published a video taken of a brawl inside Alexandria City High School, and a teenager was hit by a car while walking home from school in Del Ray on Thursday.
“Make it happen faster.”
It’s been the rallying cry for countless local residents who have suffered from multiple floods in the last few years. City leaders have promised to expedite stormwater projects, but now admit that many improvements could be years away at best.
What a week in Alexandria.
Public uproar over Sunday’s flooding spilled out throughout this week, which continued to be threatened by near-daily flash flood advisories from the National Weather Service.
Today on WAMU’s The Politics Hour, Mayor Justin Wilson laid out plans for flood infrastructure work, predicted a decision this fall over whether recreation centers will require proof of vaccination, and tacitly endorsed the Arlington-Georgetown gondola.
The discussion of the mayor took up the back half of the hour-long program hosted by Kojo Nnamdi and Tom Sherwood. As fitting the program’s name, the show started with a question of politics and whether Mayor Justin Wilson is planning to debate Republican candidate Annetta Catchings.
In what’s turning out to be the wettest week of the year, Alexandria is once again under a Flash Flood Warning. The warning is in effect until 12:15 p.m.
NWS warns that thunderstorms may produce life-threatening flash flooding.
Get ready for more serious weather, as the National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood Watch in Alexandria. The advisory is in effect until 2 p.m. Friday.
Humid conditions will result in showers and scattered thunderstorms in the evening hours, the National Weather Service tweeted.
