What Happened During the Flood?

What happened to Route 1 during the flood last week?

As a result, approximately 66 mobile homes in the Holly Acres mobile home park are in a FEMA-designated floodway, which means that 150-175 people, or 35-40 families are permanently displaced and can not rebuild on the floodway.

“All the ground was saturated, the tributaries were pretty full,” said communications director Jason Grant in a presentation in the afternoon Board of County Supervisors meeting. “About 15 inches of rain fell in the eastern end of Prince William County.”

By the numbers, details broken down:

• Police department received 248 calls
• Fire department received 116 calls from 6 p.m. to midnight on Thursday, a volume normally expected for an entire day.
• The county’s emergency operations center was activated on Thursday and will be continued through the week, with 100 staff and volunteers running it.
• County is waiving fees at the landfill for construction and debris waste for all those affected by the flood, not just county residents. 
• Working with owners to facilitate clean up of their own properties. 
• The culvert and the stream channel are clear at Marumsco Creek.
• Fifteen county businesses in the area were declared unsafe for occupancy due to the flood. Clean up has begun at those areas and county will assist the businesses with permit issues.
• About two-thirds of Holly Acres mobile homes units were located in what the county calls a flood way, where federal authorities predict water will flow within a channel during a flood. All those units were declared unsafe, according to the zoning board, the dwellings cannot be repaired of rebuilt within the FEMA-designated “floodway.”
• Red Cross estimates it is about $50 per person, per day to operate the shelter
• Six full time staff, 12 volunteers are at the recreation center to operate the shelter 24-hours a day. There are also 25-30 regional volunteers needed to support the shelter.

Grant also mentioned the retaining wall that . 

About two-thirds of Holly Acres mobile homes units were located in what the county calls a flood way, where federal authorities predict water will flow within a channel during a flood. All those units were declared unsafe, according to the zoning board, the dwellings cannot be repaired of rebuilt within the FEMA-designated “floodway.”

Grant said that people would be able to retrieve belonging in safe dwellings until the end of the day. Police have provided on-site security around the clock at Holly Acres.

Prince William County public schools have been providing bus service for school children from the

State, federal resources:

FEMA has specific rules regarding federal assistance; determination of FEMA support could take several weeks to assess the damage.  The Small Business Administration is looking at declaring Prince William an emergency, which would allow low-interest loans to small businesses.

State resources have not been identified. Residents will need household essentials when long-term housing is determined, but the county is working with non-profits on that issue.

Volunteer Prince William is taking the lead on the donation efforts for flood victims, once needs are known the information will be distributed. Sponsoring families for housing is a huge need, said Grant, if any churches have room they should contact the county through communications@pwcgov.org.

William County Schools so that anyone who can offer monetary assistance for families displaced by the floods. More information on that fund will be up on the county’s website and the school’s system website. Woodbridge district supervisor Frank Principi pledged to donate $5,000 to the fund during supervisor's time. 

“This is the greatest challenge that we have,” said Grant of finding displaced residents new homes. “We have no back-up shelters and no ability to provide long-term shelters. We need to be able to help people transition out of a shelter and into a long-term home.”

“People first go to DSS (Department of Social Services) if they’re eligible for federal services, then they move on to housing to determine what they have available for rent,” said county executive Melissa Peacor. “Most of the people involved in this are working people, they rent their homes.”

The county government cannot keep the shelter going in the long-term, said Peacor. “We are trying to help people to help themselves at this point,” said Peacor.  “We don’t have county-owned housing to put them in. If churches can sponsor families, if people who have rentals would consider waiving first month’s rent, we are reaching out to anyone in the community who has a place for people.”  

“I know Congressman Connolly feels that not enough is going to be done for these people’s housing situation,” said Chairman Corey Stewart. “Contact his office and let him know we need the assistance of FEMA, he is your Congressman.”

In a letter to Stewart and the rest of the board, Connolly applauded the efforts of the police department, fire department, department of social services and the American Red Cross for quickly responding. But, Connolly expressed concern in the Friday deadline for the shelter. 

"Setting a deadline, in and of itself, does not solve the problem and risks adding to Northern Virginia’s homeless population," said Connolly in the letter (full PDF is available at the top right). Connolly noted that federal disaster assistance for individuals, non-profits, and local and state governments is governed by the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, which requires Gov. Bob McDonnell to request an emergency declaration through FEMA. 

Connolly said in his letter that the county should ask McDonnell to request a federal major disaster or emergency declaration. "I stand ready, willing, and able to support your request to Governor McDonnell and will begin working immediately to draft a letter to that effect," wrote Connolly. 

“We don’t want to give false hope that we’re going to give permanent homes for 38 families by Friday,” said Peacor. “We are trying to be as upfront and honest as we can.”

Cleaning up: 

As to when and how the clean up of the trailers and debris will begin, that remains to be seen.

The landowner of Holly Acres is responsible for the maintenance of the property, by that; any debris on the property needs to be taken care of. Prince William County will go to the landowner and say that the debris needs to be cleaned up but as to where cost lies, which is a legal issue.

Power is on at Holly Acres and the water will be turned on eventually once the sewage lines to detached trailers are capped.