Monday, August 29 , 2011 3

NEWS In this section:

Mechelle HankersonNews Editor

VCU freshman Emily Holland just moved to Richmond from Norfolk this week. She lived through 2003's Hurricane Isabel, and this week, she made it through both an earthquake and the category one Hurricane Irene.

Holland, who lives in Johnson Hall, said experiencing a hurricane in a dorm

encing one back home."I just made sure I had enough wa

ter," she said.Holland was surprised at how much

power Irene had in Richmond, since the city is so far inland.

because it is closer to the water," Holland said.

Holland's family was still in Norfolk during the storm and was lucky enough

was able to keep in touch with them via phone throughout the duration of the storm.

Freshman Allie Payne who lives in Rhoads Hall said her mom was planning a trip to Richmond and when she

items so Payne wouldn't have to leave her dorm during the storm.

"It was crazy to watch the wind blow and the water come down sideways and there was a tree ... and I was just waiting for it to hit the power lines," she said.

The tree never did fall and Rhoads Hall never lost power. Johnson Hall

never lost power for more than a few minutes.

While students like Payne and Holland erred on the side of caution by staying inside, freshman Luke Murray ventured out of his GRC dorm and saw the more humorous side of Irene.

"We were outside, and we saw this one guy who was kiteboarding with an

him, 'You cant be doing that.'"Other GRC residents, like Jerne

Jackson and Meghan McKenna say they experienced some leakage in their common area but were able to alert VCU authorities who were able to repair the leak.

Though VCU made it through Irene with minimal damage, the rest of the city experienced the more dangerous side of a hurricane.

Hurricane Irene moved out of the Richmond area around midnight Saturday night, but according to Dominion

mond metro area without power and left 912,000 without power statewide. The Virginia Department of Emer

it could take up to two weeks to fully restore those without power.

Irene spares VCU but hits rest of Richmond hard

Hurricane Irene in photos 4MCV begins new lung cancer screen 5

—Continued on page 4

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A fallen tree frames the Robert E. Lee statue at Monument and Allen avenues. Sections of Monument Avenue were closed during Hurricane Irene due to uprooted trees.

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Monday, August 29, 20114

Dominion said this is the second worst power outage in their company's

By Sunday morning, Dominion had restored power to about 600,000 customers and as 8:40 a.m. on Sunday, only 366,245 customers were still left without power. The company expects to have an estimate of how long total restoration will take Monday around noon.

Irene also caused four deaths state

County Saturday night.Two buildings collapsed in Rich

exact cause. An apartment complex's

ground on the 300 block of Baker Street. A commercial building on the 2600 block of Chamberlayne Avenue also collapsed.

Around 2 p.m. on Saturday, the city opened two shelters at the Arthur Ashe Center and Huguenot High School. Huguenot was later closed due to a power outage, and all residents in the shelter were transported via the Greater Richmond Transit System to the shelter at the Arthur Ashe Center.

County opened Cosby High School as a shelter.

VDEM estimates that about 4,356 people were in shelters statewide Saturday night, and there were approximately 80 shelters established. By Sunday morning, there were an estimated 5,046 Virginia residents in shelters.

Around 10 p.m. Saturday, Mayor Dwight C. Jones had declared a local state of emergency for Richmond. Due

Statewide, the VDEM is estimated that approximately 238 roads have been closed.

While other state colleges and universities decided to cancel class for Monday and Old Dominion University

cellations or delays for Monday.Both campuses have full power, and

there have been no outages reported. Facilities Management continues to work to clear fallen trees and debris and

–Continued from page 3

From top right: Monument and Allen avenues, the 600 block of Laurel Street, Franklin and Laurel streets, VCU’s Compass, Cumberland Street, outside GRC on Main Street and the front of Binford Middle School.

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