County says minor street flooding possible in Huntington, Belle Haven areas
Fairfax County has sent an alert to residents warning of potential street flooding in the Huntington and Belle Haven/New Alexandria areas as rainfall continues into the evening Sunday.
The county does not anticipate heavy street flooding or structural flooding at this time, and the forecast shows the heaviest rains have already past the area. But about .5 inch to 1 inch of rain is expected in the next 2-3 hours, and officials are suggesting that residents in areas hit by flooding in the past move their vehicles to higher ground, and to not park under trees.
“Based on the NWS forecast, and current water levels at Huntington, residents may experience minor street flooding in the Huntington area and localized areas in the in the Belle View/New Alexandria area near the intersection of Olde Towne Road and Wood Haven Road, as well as the vicinity of 6700 West Wakefield Drive,” the county said in the alert, which was sent out around 5:40 p.m.
Cameron Run, which runs next to the Huntington neighborhood, hit 6.5 feet around 6 p.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service’s online hydrograph page. That crosses the threshold from the “action” stage to the “minor” flood stage.
The county said that it’s monitoring the situation on the ground in Huntington, which has had to deal with three major floods and numerous close calls since 2002. A massive levee is current under construction to protect the neighborhood from Cameron Run, but the project is not scheduled to be completed until next spring.
Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck’s office said last month the levee is not yet offering protection to Huntington because pumps have yet to be installed. An update on the county’s project page, dated May 24, said that the recent rains have not had a significant impact on the project’s schedule, and that masonry work on the pumping station is nearly complete.
The weekend rains have also left a few neighborhoods in the Richmond Highway area without power, according to Dominion Energy. Close to 200 residents were without power around 6:20 p.m., with the largest grouping near South Kings Highway.
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