Mount Vernon District Businesses Struggle to Remain Open After Derecho

Many businesses in the Route 1 corridor remained closed Sunday due to power outages caused by

The Beacon Mall did not sustain a power outage and was open its regular hours on Saturday and Sunday. The Hollin Hall Shopping Center experienced a power outage, but the Hollin Hall Hardware store was running on half-power and was open on Sunday, according to Patch contributor Glenda Booth. 

The  resumed normal operations Sunday. However, the  experienced a power outage on Saturday and was closed that day, but was able to open for dinner on Sunday.

“I do know that the power was out and the food was spoiled, and there was a lot of trouble,” said Miriam, who answered the phone at the country club. “They’re working on replacing it now.”

and lost power Friday night, media relations manager Melissa Wood told Patch. Power was restored Saturday afternoon.

“Our crews worked around the clock to clear the estate and get everything back online for our visitors on Sunday,” Wood said in an e-mail to Patch.

The Mount Vernon Athletic Club was closed due to a power outage on Saturday and Sunday. According to its Facebook page, they may or may not be open Monday and urge members to check its page.

Fort Belvoir will operate with a staff of emergency-essential employees on Monday. Emergency-essential employees are expected to report to their place of duty on time. Other employees should contact their supervisors regarding their duty status. The base is still experiencing significant power outages affecting telephone service, traffic lights, commissary and other services. Employees and residents are urged to check the base Facebook page, email, and BelvoirAM-1610 radio announcement services for updates.

Power was restored to Fort Belvoir Community Hospital as of Sunday afternoon, but phone service remains sporadic.

“People may continue having difficulties connecting to hospital extensions from telephone lines external to Fort Belvoir,” read an update from the hospital’s Facebook page. “We will continue providing updates via Facebook, Twitter and our website at www.fbch.capmed.mil.”

Power at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital was restored Saturday afternoon, according to an update on its Facebook page.

Many Mount Vernon District residents were still in the dark on Sunday afternoon. Some neighborhoods had power restored on Sunday including Stratford Landing and Riverside Estates.

Delegate Scott Surovell (D-44th) said he has received between 25-30 calls this weekend from constituents, ranging from people asking when Dominion would restore their power to one constituent who had a transformer in her backyard. Surovell called the disruption to phone service and 911 "especially disturbing."

"In the 2011 General Assembly Session, we passed legislation that deregulated home telephone service," Surovell said in an email to Patch. "Only 28 delegates and 11 Senators voted against it. Verizon no longer has to string hard wires into neighborhoods that have cell signals.

"I had vivid memories of what our area went through during Hurricane Isabelle when my neighborhood had no water or electricity for seven days," Surovell said. "Land lines still have their place today and people ought to have the choice to have one if they want without being charged a fortune. Verizon is still not happy with me because of my vote on that bill, but this storm is a classic example of why we should have never passed that legislation."