November 12, 2009

Tropical Storm Ida is making her mark on Central Virginia. It's been raining sporadically in Charlottesville. The city has already received two inches of rain, and some southern counties have seen as much as five inches.

In Central Virginia, Ida seems to be doing the most damage in Buckingham County. There have been several reports of downed trees and even one injury due to the storm.

However, things are the worst in the Hampton Roads area, due to severe flooding and high winds.

More than 100 roads in Hampton Roads and the Roanoke and New River valleys are closed due to flooding.

In southeast Virginia, state transportation officials closed the Midtown Tunnel as a precaution and the James River Bridge due to flooding on one side. All other bridges and tunnels are open, but officials are worried that high tide during rush hour could cause severe traffic problems Thursday afternoon.

Virginia Department of Transporation spokesman Jeff Caldwell says portions of five interstates were closed, but most were ramps. Another two dozen primary roads and more than 150 secondary roads were closed.

Virginia State Police spokeswoman Debra Cox says there have been more than 140 traffic crashes in Hampton Roads alone. She did not know if any of those were fatal.

The storm is also causing lots of power outages in the area. Dominion Power was out Thursday morning restoring power in several neighborhoods.

Here in Charlottesville, we've only seen about two inches of rain, but there's a good chance we could get another two inches by Friday.

People driving or spending time outside are advised to be careful. The roads are wet, and it's still very windy.