Downgraded to a tropical depression, Ernesto lashed rain across the Washington region, cutting power to thousands and bringing rain totals of more than 10 inches to Virginia Beach where it came ashore.
By dusk, the lumbering storm was heading up the Potomac to Northern Virginia and Washington.
Emergency officials scrambled late Friday to be prepared ahead of the short-lived but intense late-summer storm.
The anticipated deluge was a reminder of the devastating rains and flooding that struck the region mid-summer, though officials appeared to agree that Ernesto did not possess the same destructive potential. Nevertheless, Fairfax County opened an emergency shelter at Edison High School, fearingthat Cameron Run again would escape its banks and inundate surrounding homes.
Power lines and trees were torn down in Maryland and sandbags were positioned along the low Potomac shoreline in Alexandria. Area jurisdictions prepared drainage systems and had emergency crews on standby. In addition to Cameron Run, flooding hot spots like the Georgetown and Alexandria waterfronts, and Washington Harbor were under close watch, officials said.
Ernesto’s winds likely would be stronger, but the same level of flooding as earlier this summer was not anticipated, said James Brotherton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. He said the storm was expected to end by early Saturday morning.
States of emergency were in effect for both Virginia and D.C., allowing leaders to mobilize local National Guard units if necessary. No declaration was made in Maryland, though the governor does not need one to call up the guard, said Henry Fawell, a spokesman for Gov. Robert Ehrlich.
Flooding from both intense rainfall and swollen tides was expected at spots throughout the region. The District, which this year saw the swamping of major federal offices like the Internal Revenue Service and the National Archives, has taken extra steps to clear drains and catch basins, said Ed Reiskin, deputy D.C. mayor for public safety and justice.
“There are some aspects of what happened earlier this summer that we certainly hope won’t be repeated,” Reiskin said Friday.
