Irene spares VCU but hits rest of Richmond hard

Mechelle Hankerson
News Editor

VCU freshman Emily Holland just moved to Richmond from Norfolk this week. She lived through 2003’s Hurricane Isabel, and this week, she made it through both an earthquake and the category one Hurricane Irene.

Holland, who lives in Johnson Hall, said experiencing a hurricane in a dorm wasn’t too much different than experiencing one back home.

“I just made sure I had enough water,” she said.

Holland was surprised at how much power Irene had in Richmond, since the city is so far inland.

“(In Norfolk) it was kind of expected because it is closer to the water,” Holland said.

Holland’s family was still in Norfolk during the storm and was lucky enough to not be affected by Irene. Holland was able to keep in touch with them via phone throughout the duration of the storm.

Freshman Allie Payne who lives in Rhoads Hall said her mom was planning a trip to Richmond and when she arrived, stocked up on non-perishable items so Payne wouldn’t have to leave her dorm during the storm.

“It was crazy to watch the wind blow and the water come down sideways and there was a tree … and I was just waiting for it to hit the power lines,” she said.

The tree never did fall and Rhoads Hall never lost power. Johnson Hall experienced intermittent flickering but never lost power for more than a few minutes.

While students like Payne and Holland erred on the side of caution by staying inside, freshman Luke Murray ventured out of his GRC dorm and saw the more humorous side of Irene.

“We were outside, and we saw this one guy who was kiteboarding with an American flag while the gusts were going by,” he said. “(The police had) to tell him, ‘You cant be doing that.'”

Other GRC residents, like Jerne Jackson and Meghan McKenna say they experienced some leakage in their common area but were able to alert VCU authorities who were able to repair the leak.

Though VCU made it through Irene with minimal damage, the rest of the city experienced the more dangerous side of a hurricane.

Hurricane Irene moved out of the Richmond area around midnight Saturday night, but according to Dominion Virginia Power, left 373,803 in the Richmond metro area without power and left 912,000 without power statewide. The Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) estimated it could take up to two weeks to fully restore those without power.

Dominion said this is the second worst power outage in their company’s history. Hurricane Isabel was the first.

By Sunday morning, Dominion had restored power to about 600,000 customers and as 8:40 a.m. on Sunday, only 366,245 customers were still left without power. The company expects to have an estimate of how long total restoration will take Monday around noon.

Irene also caused four deaths statewide, including one in Chesterfield County Saturday night.

Two buildings collapsed in Richmond, though officials haven’t said the exact cause. An apartment complex’s roof and third floor collapsed to the ground on the 300 block of Baker Street. A commercial building on the 2600 block of Chamberlayne Avenue also collapsed.

Around 2 p.m. on Saturday, the city opened two shelters at the Arthur Ashe Center and Huguenot High School. Huguenot was later closed due to a power outage, and all residents in the shelter were transported via the Greater Richmond Transit System to the shelter at the Arthur Ashe Center.

Early Sunday morning, Chesterfield County opened Cosby High School as a shelter.

VDEM estimates that about 4,356 people were in shelters statewide Saturday night, and there were approximately 80 shelters established. By Sunday morning, there were an estimated 5,046 Virginia residents in shelters.

Around 10 p.m. Saturday, Mayor Dwight C. Jones had declared a local state of emergency for Richmond. Due to the high number of non-functioning street lights, traffic lights and the high number of downed trees, city officials advised residents to stay off the roads.

Statewide, the VDEM is estimated that approximately 238 roads have been closed.

While other state colleges and universities decided to cancel class for Monday and Old Dominion University has pushed back their move-in dates indefinitely, VCU hasn’t issued any cancellations or delays for Monday.

Both campuses have full power, and there have been no outages reported. Facilities Management continues to work to clear fallen trees and debris and to fix minor leaks in some buildings.

To report any damage on the VCU campuses, please call Facilities Management at 828-9444.