Wilson Bridge construction not to blame in June flooding

A joint study by the Virginia Dept. of Transportation, officials from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the City of Alexandria, and Fairfax County, released last Friday, blame the record breaking rainfall for the flooding that damaged or destroyed a number of homes in the Huntington and Arlington Terrace areas of Fairfax County. Residence of these neighborhoods had blamed the flooding on changes to Cameron Run resulting from the Bridge construction project. However, the study suggested that, in the worst-case scenario, the construction only added 5-10 inches to flood, an amount insufficient to have had any significant impact in the outcome in June. All the homes affected by the flood sit on the 100 year flood plain for Cameron Run.

I'm sure this report will not satisfy the residents of the affected neighborhoods, many of whom did not carry flood insurance, and are looking for someone to blame for their losses. However, the fourteen food rise in water level along Cameron Run suggests that whatever impact the construction had was negligible. Perhaps the more relevant issue might be the failure to build a flood wall or earthen berm, as recommended in the past by unnamed federal agencies (presumably following the flooding in this area in the wake of Hurricane Agnes in 1972).

[from the Examiner]

Of course I voted

If one more person here at work asks me about voting...

As I told one of the first to ask (before I got fed up with the question), if I didn't vote, I wouldn't be able to complain about the results, and I really enjoy complaining about the results! :o)

Seriously, I've voted in every election since my eighteenth birthday, and am a big believer in being part of the process. I was surprised to find a bit of a line when I reached my polling location at about 11:00 today. Normally, midday is the best time to avoid a line. It wasn't a long wait, though, only about 15 minutes, and I must say I'm actually pleased, as this is a sign that voter turnout is high. My wife was talking to the volunteers while I waited, and they said that the line was still out the door at 10:00, which is far later than it normally stays that long. I was the 585 voter checked in (and that was just the tally for people with names starting with A-K). All this is a bit surprising, because it is truly an off-year election here in Virginia. Only the Senate seat and our local House seat are on the ballot, along with some referendum items. There are no state or local offices up for election today in Virginia. I'm glad to see voters coming out to participate in the process anyway. I suspect that the voter turnout is due to a combination of the close Senate race and the controversial referendum on the marriage amendment.

I had no problems voting today. I even managed to avoid being molested by the campaign workers outside the polling location, which is in the gym at my daughters' school. Schools are closed today, and the teachers use the day for parent-teacher conferences. My wife and I went to the school to meet with our daughters' teachers, using the schools main entrance, which allowed us to avoid the campaigners waiting by the side entrance to the gym. After our meetings, we strolled down the hall to the gym, voted, and left, without ever being approached by anybody trolling for our vote. Very pleasant, indeed.