Tree felled by storm kills person in Fairfax County

At least one person died in the Washington region and hundreds of thousands were left in the dark as severe weather felled trees and power lines and tornado reports sent schoolchildren running for cover Wednesday afternoon.

The fast-moving storm pummeled the area with 60 mph winds and sent a tree falling onto a vehicle on Hummer Road in the Annandale area of Fairfax County, killing one person and injuring a second, according to police. The victims were not identified.

Tornados were seen in Falls Church, the Huntington area of Fairfax County, Anne Arundel County and Calvert County, according to the National Weather Service.

“We have to do damage surveys tomorrow to confirm those,” local weather service meteorologist Luis Rosa said.

Falls Church officials sent everyone in City Hall into the basement to wait out the storm, a city spokeswoman said.

In Loudoun County, where winds toppled a tree into a house, schools held students an extra 40 minutes and used the time to conduct tornado drills, rushing students to locker and basement areas away from windows, schools spokesman Wayde Byard said.

“There have been a lot of trees down, alarms down, people trapped in elevators — that sort of thing,” Loudoun County fire department spokeswoman Mary Maguire said.

Fairfax County schools held students for close to an hour.

Pepco reported 150,000 power outages in the District of Columbia and Maryland, and Dominion Virginia reported almost 240,000 outages in Northern Virginia, with 51,000 of those occurring in Arlington and Alexandria, an Arlington official said.

Power lines fell onto Metrorail train tracks between the East Falls Church and West Falls Church Orange Line stations at about 3:30 p.m., forcing the transit agency to suspend service at East Falls Church and operate shuttle buses between stations during rush hour.

The aftermath of the storm snarled regional traffic, with numerous roads closed and traffic signals throughout the area malfunctioning, including those at more than 100 intersections in Montgomery County.

A tree fell on the walkway at the Lyceum in Alexandria, prompting officials to shut down Washington Street by Duke Street while emergency workers checked for injuries.

Downed power lines and trees also shut down sections of Glebe Road and Lee Highway in Arlington, Reservoir Road at Foxhall Road in the District and River Road near Brookdale Road in Bethesda.

The National Weather Service was calling for a second, milder wave of the storm to pass through the region in the evening, with the potential for more severe weather south of the Washington area.

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