RICHMOND, VA—A State of Emergency was declared by Gov. Bob McDonnell following severe weather that struck Virginia and killed six people.
Gov. Bob McDonnell announced the fatalities and declared a State of Emergency during a press conference Saturday.
"The widespread power outage caused by last night's storms, combined with forecasted triple-digit high temperatures for the next several days, have created a dangerous situation for many Virginians," said Gov. Bob McDonnell.
Widespread damage was reported in multiple states spanning the east coast. Power has been wiped-out to more than 2 million people across the eastern United States.
Gov. McDonnell called the damage serious and said it would likely be days before power was restored. The outage is the largest non-hurricane outage in the state's history, the governor said.
As temperatures continue to reach the triple-digits in the days ahead, the Governor called on all Virginians to assist each other as power outages could last for multiple days.
"Older Virginians, infants and those who have medical conditions are especially at risk for heat related injuries. Please check on your neighbors, friends and family members and make sure they have a cool place to stay," said Gov. Bob McDonnell.
Virginians with power, or on a mobile device, can see a rolling list of all known local cooling stations and share that information with friends, family and neighbors at this website.
Under state law, the governor declares a state of emergency so that state resources can be made available. This emergency declaration ensures a fully coordinated state response to support local response and recovery efforts. A declaration also expedites timely deployment of personnel, equipment and supplies to impacted areas.
The Virginia Emergency Operations Center is coordinating the state's response with increased staffing.Virginia Department of Transportation crews are working to clear debris and ensure roads are safe for travel. State Police are assisting with traffic control and security. Governor McDonnell authorized up to 300 National Guard members to assist with recovery.
Click Here For Dominion Electric Outage Summary.
Copyright 2012 by Young Broadcasting of Richmond
