From Gov. Kaine's office.
GOVERNOR KAINE DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY TO COORDINATE RESPONSE TO WILDFIRESRICHMOND - Governor Timothy M. Kaine today declared a state of emergency in the Commonwealth of Virginia, directing state agencies to take all necessary actions to aid in the response to multiple wildfires that have broken out in numerous areas across the Commonwealth.
A declaration of emergency allows the Governor to immediately deploy state personnel, equipment, and other emergency response resources, and to coordinate state and local response to the event.
In addition, the Governor has authorized the activation of Virginia National Guard personnel and equipment to assist with fighting wildfires.
Virginia Department of Forestry personnel have been working throughout the day. Also, personnel from the Virginia Department of Transportation and Virginia State Police have been dealing with roads closed due to debris and smoke. The Virginia Department of Emergency Management continues to coordinate requests for assistance from local governments.
UPDATE: The Washington Post reports:
Dominion Virginia Power, which provides electricity to much of Virginia, said in a statement that "more than 190,000 customers" had been affected. About 24,000 of them were in the Northern Virginia area.
Not good.
UPDATE #2: The Roanoke Times reports, "High winds wreaked havoc in the Roanoke Valley on Sunday, felling trees, knocking out power and causing dozens of small fires sparked by fallen power lines." For a map of power outages, click here -- looks like the hardest-hit areas include Roanoke, Martinsville, Lynchburg, Christianburg, Bluefield, Charleston and Beckley. Fortunately, the Roanoke Times reports, "No serious injuries were reported as a result of the fires, downed trees and power lines and blowing debris." Finally, turning to politics, "The weather also kept the presidential campaigns of Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama from visiting Roanoke, disappointing hundreds who waited in the blustery weather."
Here is a groundwater well in PW county:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/va/n...
There is a well in Reston, but the thing has been on the fritz for the past few weeks. Other Virginia groundwater monitoring wells can be found here:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/va/n...
Here is Lake Lanier, outside of Atlanta.
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ga/n...