PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Parts of Hampton Roads was inundated by as much as four inches of rain Monday, making for treacherous driving conditions as many of the region’s roads flooded.
Several flash flood warnings had been issued as rain poured across the region, causing the National Weather Service to send out an emergency alert urging people not to go out on the roads, saying “this is a dangerous and life-threatening situation.”
There were also flash flood warnings for Newport News and Hampton and one for Williamsburg, James City County, York County and nearby areas.
Meteorologist Steve Fundaro said it came down at about two inches per hour in some spots, leading to heavy flooding in several areas.
This flooding came on the first day of school for many students across Hampton Roads.
Norfolk Flooding
Flooding caused some issues in Norfolk Monday. Around 12:45 p.m., emergency crews responded to a manhole that was blown off during the heavy rain. No injuries were reported.
A couple hours later, the city issued an alert that the Monticello underpass near 21st Street was closed to all traffic due to flooding. Drivers were advised take Granby Street as the nearest alternate route.
Power Outages
A couple thousand Dominion Energy customers in Hampton Roads lost power during Monday’s rainfall. Click here to see the latest outage summary. If you need to report an outage, you can do that on the Dominion Energy website.
With the forecast predicting heavy rain for our region for several days this week and the threat of Tropical Storm Idalia, expected to soon turn into a hurricane, a spokesperson for Dominion Energy told WAVY crews are preparing and are at the ready to respond to impacted areas.
“We prepare for severe weather year-round, not just in the days leading up to the storm, so if and when storms knock out power, we can get the lights back on as quickly and safely,” said spokesperson Bonita Billingsley Harris.
Trees and limbs are the number one reason for outages.
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.
