Tropical Storm Hanna Drenches Washington Region

Video

Sights and Sounds of Tropical Storm Hanna

Despite Tropical Storm Hanna's downpour, locals and tourists tried to go about their day in Washington, D.C. The situation was worse in the Huntington area of Fairfax County, where 114 homes were evacuated because of flooding.

» LAUNCH VIDEO PLAYER

"The thing that gets the drama and attention is the high winds," he said. "But actually in terms of inconvenience and damage, the high tide can be serious."

In Northern Virginia, where the rain appeared to be heavier , the situation created more concern.

"We have a lot of flooding," said police dispatcher Maggie Reese in Prince William County. "The roads are bad, and numerous roads are impassable. Tell people to stay in."

In a conference call at mid-afternoon, Kaine (D) said the state's most significant flooding was in Prince William, where Hanna appears to have poured the most rain. In one of the worst spots, Neabsco Creek rose high enough to cover Route 1 in about five feet of water near the intersection with Blackburn Road.

"It seems like some of the rain is very, very heavy as the storm is exiting Virginia," Kaine said.

Residents of about two-dozen houses in the Huntington area of Fairfax County were evacuated early Saturday afternoon county officials said, as the rain-swelled Cameron Run overran its banks and swamped nearby streets. The same neighborhood suffered severe flooding in June 2006 after heavy rains. Evacuees milled in and out of the Huntington Community Center throughout the afternoon.

But by 6 p.m., county officials determined that the flood waters had begun to recede. A multi-agency team, with officials from public works, the health, police and fire departments, began going house to house making inspections of damage and any possible health threat from sewage backup or danger from structural damage. Once the assessments are complete and no danger is found, residents will be allowed to return home.

"At this point, we just don't know when that will be," said Merni Fitzgerald, Fairfax County spokesperson.

Two buses sat idling outside the community center most of the afternoon to take any residents to another county shelter at the Mt. Vernon Recreation Center. The shelter was prepared to take 50 evacuees, but by later afternoon only a handful of people had chosen to come.

Around 18 homes on Lake Point Drive in the Burke area were also evacuated as a precautionary measure yesterday, Fitzgerald said, as officials kept an eye on water levels in Royal Lake, a flood control facility created by Pohick Creek Dam. The earthen dam, which no longer meets federal safety or design standards, is being rebuilt. Spillways that usually handle stormwater are not operative, but there is no actual flooding, Fitzgerald said.

State officials will conduct damage assessments over the next 24 hours. The governor said he expects some roads that have been closed due to high water may need repairs.

"It's a little too early to tell," Kaine said.