RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Governor Terry McAuliffe does not want anyone to take the weather threats heading Virginia’s way lightly.
“The reason being right now we are facing two very severe weather patterns,” McAuliffe said during a press conference at the Virginia Emergency Operations Center on Thursday. “As of Tuesday of this week we saw flooding in the Commonwealth.”
Governor McAuliffe is concerned not only about the hurricane threat of Joaquin, but also of the rain threat before the hurricane strikes.
“Right now we have seen more than nine roads washed away and 57 roads are still closed from the rain we had on Tuesday,” McAuliffe said. “The two events that we are monitoring right now, beginning this afternoon, we’re going to see a significant amount of rainfall throughout the entire Commonwealth of Virginia.
“We will have flooding, we will have trees down, we will see power lost our message to everyone in the Commonwealth. Be prepared!” the governor exclaimed.
McAuliffe said the ground is already saturated, so expect trees to tumble.
“With flooding, with the soggy roots of the trees, we’re going to see trees come down and power lines down, that’s why we’re mobilizing bulldozers and chainsaws and all the necessary equipment,” the governor said.
Gov. McAuliffe added the state’s main priority is to make sure people are safe and Virginia’s unique military assets are safe.
Officials added,some 800 Virginia National Guardsmen will also be deployed throughout the state to help where needed, and over 25-hundred highway workers will also be on call.
The Governor said initially emergency officials were telling Virginians to make emergency preparedness kits that will have supplies to last their families three days, but now they are saying people should have supplies to last longer than that.
