The Goochland County Sheriff’s Office, Goochland County Fire-Rescue, and numerous citizens rallied together to help one another overnight and throughout the day Friday. Following the storm, approximately 3,700 power outages were reported between Goochland’s three utility suppliers. Virginia Department of Transportation and Dominion Energy worked through the night to clear road debris and restore power.
There have been no reports of any injuries due to the storm at this time; however, one home has been condemned. The two main areas of storm damage occurred in the Rock Castle / Old Stage / Dogtown roads area and the Courthouse Village. Initial damage assessments were conducted Thursday night by Goochland County Fire-Rescue and Building Inspections on 38 properties; 16 of which in the Rock Castle Road area sustained notable damage. Welfare checks were conducted by County staff throughout the hardest hit areas.
Friday morning, Goochland County activated the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and hotline (804-556-5678). Citizens are encouraged to call the hotline to report storm damage or request storm related assistance. Due to the extreme heat and wide-spread power outages, all fire stations are open for citizens as cooling shelters and charging stations. Code Red communications have been issued today advising citizens of the services available to them.
The primary focus on Friday, June 17th, has been to conduct damage assessments. Notable efforts of this process are listed below.
- A National Weather Service (NWS) Wakefield representative toured the county Friday morning to survey the damage. The representative confirmed the EF1 Tornado, which produced sustained winds of 90-95 mph.
- Med Flight offered their services which allowed Major East and Deputy Emergency Coordinator Hillman an aerial survey of the impacted areas.
- Building Inspections along with Fire-Rescue, established 4 damage assessment teams to perform additional assessments Friday afternoon.
- Two representatives from Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) joined the County in the Emergency Operations Center to help provide additional support.
As of Friday evening, 850 Dominion Energy customers in Goochland County remain without power. Estimated times of restoration are available on Dominion’s website (https://outagemap.dominionenergy.com/).
As a result of the storm, there is an immense amount of storm debris. Goochland County will be waiving residents’ fees for brush disposal at the Central and Western Convenience Centers through Friday, July 15th, 2022, to give residents time to clean up from the storm. This applies ONLY to Goochland residents; it does not apply to commercial entities & operations. The County’s Convenience Centers will reopen on Saturday with their normal hours of 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
The Goochland YMCA in the Courthouse Village is open on Saturday, June 18th from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday, June 19th from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., and Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for individuals to come for showers and to power electronic devices. Individuals are asked to check in at the front desk and bring their own towels, toiletries, and charging cords. The Goochland YMCA is located at 1800 Dickinson Rd., Goochland VA 23063.
Agricultural producers whose farming operations suffered damage in the storm on Thursday, June 16th are asked to notify the Virginia Cooperative Extension Agent Nicole Shuman of damages at their earliest convenience. Damage assessments help the Commonwealth of Virginia and other agencies determine whether relief funding needs to be made available.
Contact Nicole Shuman via email at nks49@vt.edu, call/voicemail at 804-556-5872, and text messages at 301-633-0652. She will be available Tuesday, June 21st through Friday, June 24th for site visits if producers prefer.
Citizens are encouraged to stay tuned to www.goochlandva.us and the County’s social media channels for future updates. We want to thank everyone who has played a role in responding to the storm, from our citizens to our colleagues in the public and private sector.
