People in the D.M.V. are feeling the remnants of Hurricane Ida. This photo provided by Bristol Virginia Professional FireFighters Association shows damage from severe weather in Hurley, Va. (AP Photo)
By Micha Green
AFRO D.C and Digital Editor
mgreen@afro.com
Effects from the powerful Hurricane Ida, that affected Gulf states such as Louisiana and Mississippi, are now being felt in the D.M.V. At press time, Ida had become a post-tropical cyclone hovering around Roanoke, Virginia and Elkins, West Virginia.
According to officials in Bristol, Virginia, about 20 homes were moved from their foundations and several trailers washed away amid flooding in western Virginia from the remnants of Hurricane Ida.
Then, late night on Aug. 31 into the first of September, there was a storm so strong and loud that many D.M.V. residents took to social media to process what had occurred.
“Anyone else just get woken up by the storm,” Washingtonian Problems posted on Instagram.
“That was the wildest and scariest storm!!!! Wide awake after that,” one person commented in response to the Washingtonian Problems post.
Another woman wrote, “Why it look like God flickering on and off the light switch.”
“Prediction: everyone in the DMV will either oversleep this morning or fall asleep in a meeting. That was quite a storm last night,” one woman wrote on Twitter.
With major rainfall, strong winds and thunderstorms in the D.M.V., some families have already been impacted in a major way by the lingering remnants of Ida.
Early on Sept. 1, several Rockville residents were forced to evacuate their homes after severe flooding at two apartment complexes, and tragically, one 19-year-old man was found dead, while another person has not been accounted for.
The teen who died was at Rock Creek Woods Apartments, located at 13205 Twinbrook Pkwy in Rockville.
Three other people and one firefighter were transported to local hospitals for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
According to reports from the scene, the area was somber as residents processed the news of a fallen neighbor, unaccounted person and an understanding that their belongings were completely damaged.
Cars and houses may be a total loss, but many area residents are thankful for their lives after being awoken to frightening and life threatening storm waters.
“I just grabbed my phone and called 911 and it was busy because everyone was calling,” a woman named Melissa told Megan Rivers of WUSA 9 on Twitter.
“Water was just coming in,” Melissa said as she was describing how she and her five-foot tall mother tried to escape the flooding water. “Water was just rushing in both ways, the front door, the side and the bedroom window,” Melissa said, before tearfully thanking God that she and her family survived the scary moment.
As of press time, the Washington Metropolitan area was under a Red Weather Alert and flood watch due to heavy rain, strong winds and severe storms with the heaviest rains lasting about twelve hours and with the potential of isolated tornadoes.
Strong winds and storms are said to continue in the Washington Metropolitan area through the night of Sept. 1.
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