Hurricane Florence: Falls Church Urges Residents To Prepare

FALLS CHURCH, VA—The City of Falls Church urges residents to prepare immediately for potential impacts of Hurricane Florence, which is expected to approach the East Coast on Thursday. The storm is currently a category 4 hurricane and could strengthen further. The National Hurricane Center anticipates it will be an extremely dangerous hurricane through Thursday.

The hurricane could make landfall in North Carolina but has implications of life-threatening storm surge along the Atlantic coast and heavy rain and flooding hundreds of miles from the storm's center. In the DC region, already swelling creeks and streams set the stage for additional flooding.

The center of the hurricane will move over the southwestern Atlantic Ocean between Bermuda and the Bahamas Tuesday and Wednesday, and approach North Carolina on Thursday. It could make landfall early Friday morning on the coast of North Carolina. Mandatory evacuations have already been ordered in coastal parts of Virginia and the Carolinas.

SEE ALSO: Hurricane Update: Florence Prompts Mandatory Evacuation In VA

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The National Hurricane Center urges residents from the Mid-Atlantic to South Carolina to follow local officials' tips to prepare for Florence. Falls Church offers the following tips to prepare now:

• Keep gutters clear of debris. If you set out trash bins and yard waste, please put them on the curb. Please also clean up any debris from the curb gutter. Crews are working now to clear the storm drains, and this action from residents and businesses can help tremendously.If you can, hold yard waste until next week's collection. This helps any accidental spills into the storm drains.
• Secure or store outdoor items. Residents should secure or store toys, lawn equipment, tables, chairs, umbrellas, and other items that could be a danger in high winds.Businesses should secure or store signage, tables, chairs, and especially umbrellas that could become dangerous projectiles in hurricane-force winds.
• Check on your neighbors. Make time now for an elderly or infirm neighbor. Let them know you'll check on them throughout the storm. If they don't use the Internet for news, let them know about critical messages from the City government and local news.
• Sandbags available for homes at risk. The Department of Public Works is providing sandbags for homes at risk for flooding. If the resident received sandbags from the City this year, they are not eligible for this storm.A maximum of 20 bags per household are are available first-come, first-served at the Property Yard A (next to the Recycling Center on Gordon Rd.) only on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (September 12 through 14) from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.City staff will help with loading bags into a vehicle, but they will not be responsible for vehicle damage.
• Know who to call. Prepare for power outages. Report to Dominion Virginia Energy at 866-366-4357 or www.dom.com. Report even if your neighbors have already done so; the more accounts affected, the quicker the response time could be from Dominion. If a tree falls on a house, business, or in a roadway, or if your house floods, please call the Falls Church Police non-emergency number at 703-248-5053 (TTY 711).
• Check your emergency kit. FEMA recommends stocking water (one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation), food (at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food), a battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert, flashlight with extra batteries, first aid kit and prescription medications, and more.
• Stay updated on the latest alerts. Check the City's website (www.fallschurchva.gov/Hurricane), Facebook, and Twitter accounts for important updates. Subscribe to Falls Church Alerts for critical emergency notices. Watch local news for forecasts on how the storm will affect our area.

The hurricane could prompt cancellations of city events such as the Falls Church Fall Festival. A decision about the fall festival will be made by Wednesday, Sept. 12, while decisions on weekly events (Farmers Market, library events, etc) will come closer to the weekend. Staff will determine if the fall festival will be rescheduled for October.

Current cone of the probable path of the storm center as of Sept. 11, via National Hurricane Center