More Notes on Hurricane Irene

From Around the Region

Power Still Coming Back Online:  Dominion Virginia Power has a self-imposed deadline of restoring 95 percent of the outages from Hurricane Irene by this weekend.  The utility is reporting about 115,000 outages this morning, down from more than one million immediately after the storm.

Staged Returns to Hatteras Island Begin Sunday:  Officials in Dare County have announced that Hatteras Island residents will be able to catch a ferry to the now isolated island, beginning at 6am Sunday.  The returns will be done alphabetically, beginning with the villages of Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras.  The island's only road to the mainland was carved up by the storm.

Funeral Today for Newport News Victim:  Eleven year old Zahir Robinson will be laid to rest in funeral services today in Hampton.  Robinson was killed when a large tree fell on his apartment building on Fairfax Avenue Saturday afternoon.

River Flooding Threat Wanes:  A flood warning will remain in effect for the town of Franklin but the Blackwater River is already beginning to recede.  The river crested Wednesday below moderate flood stage and well below the historic flood that swallowed the town after Hurricane Floyd in 1999.

Bottlenose Dolphin in James City County Disappears:  The bottlenose dolphin that was spotted struggling in Diascund Creek in James City County earlier this week has not been seen since Wednesday, and marine experts hope it has returned to deeper water in the James River.  It has been theorized that the dolphin was pushed upstream by storm surge from Irene.

Crop Losses in Virginia at 60 Million:  Virginia's agriculture secretary said Thursday that up to half of the  tobacco crop in the eastern half of the state could have been lost. 

Heavy Damage at ECU:  Officials at East Carolina University have increased their hurricane damage estimate to 1.7 million dollars.  Multiple rooms at Greene Hall and the Spillman Building had water damage and more than a hundred trees on campus were blown over.

Three Local Beaches Reopen:  Swimming advisories at Anderson Beach and King Lincoln Park in Newport News and at Sarah Constant Park in Norfolk have been lifted.  Health officials believe the elevated bacteria levels they detected in the water can be blamed on runoff from Hurricane Irene.

Wild Ponies are Okay: The Director of the Carolina Wild Horse Fund tells the Virginian-Pilot that all 128 of the wild ponies of Corolla have been accounted for following Irene.  The ponies usually ride out storms in an isolated, dense forest.

The Locks of the Great Bridge Bridge are now Fixed:  The Army Corps of Engineers has been able to repair a gate lock at the Great Bridge Bridge in Chesapeake, which was damaged by Hurricane Irene.  One official said it was possibly the first time in 79 years the lock system had failed to operate.

Storm Debris on the Beach: On the northern Outer Banks, large piles of debris, including trees and pilings, have been washing ashore this week on Corolla Beach. A Currituck County spokesman tells the Virginian-Pilot the debris will be cleaned up by today.