UPDATE: Power Trickles Back On, Many Repairs Linger

Update: 11:53 p.m. - To underscore the fact that these power restorations will take a long time, there are many out there who still lack power. Just ask Twitter user CristinaSpeaks

cristinaspeaks @FburgPatch no power since 5pm. Off Celebrate VA Pkwy near Cannon Ridge golf course

She sent that post a little under an hour ago. Curious, I've asked her to update her power status. No reply as of yet. 

Update: 10:53 p.m. - Twitter user Emisela reports that power has been restored to her area after intermittent outages. 

Emisela, a resident of Stafford Lakes Village, first wrote "No power in my 'hood! #Fredericksburg" to her followers on Twitter. She clarified her post later on, giving specifics about her information and the outages she experienced. Here's what she wrote: 

Emisela: Stafford Lakes Village, but we just got it back. It came and went 3xs in the last half hour #FXBG

Update: 10:37 p.m. - Just heard over the scanner that Caroline and Princess Anne Streets all have power in the downtown area. 

Update: 10:30 p.m. - Over the last hour or so, I've received a number of reports from readers on Twitter and Facebook that power has been restored to their neighborhoods. I can now happily report the same. Shortly before 10:30 p.m., the lights flickered on and my appliances hummed to life here in the vicinity of Forbes and Caroline streets in the vicinity of the Falmouth Bridge. 

Other power restorations reported to Patch on Facebook include: 

Rob Grogan Restored after 3.5 hours in Chatham Heights, west of White Oak. (Around 9:30 p.m. - ed.)

Danielle Merket Umw area back on at 9:30 was out for 5 hrs.

Ryan Brosmer was just in Ferry Farm wal-mart around 9:40 p.m. when the power went *out* there. most of ferry farm seemed to have gone dark. seems a little weird timing.

A number of you also reported never losing power throughout the evening. Here's some of those lucky folks: 

Tara St. John Cantwell Power only flickered off, never really went out in Salem Fields (off Gordon Road)

Sam Holloway Never lost it off harrison rd, F'burg

Margaret Boerner Matarese It never went out in Hickory Ridge in Falmouth.

Lynn McFadden Artillery Ridge has power! It was out only briefly.

Update: 8:53 p.m. -Dreaming about falling asleep to sweet sound of humming appliances and air conditioners? Think again. A tweet from Dominion Power sent out a short while ago says that it could take all night to restore power to storm stricken areas of the Fredericksburg region. 

Here's the full tweet: 

DomVAPower: Consider downed wire energized and dangerous. Stay safe while crews respond overnight to restore power to #fxbg and other #VA sites. #safety

Update: 8:33 p.m. - Fredericksburg Police spokesperson Natatia Bledsoe has issued an update on the havoc wreaked by the powerful storm which tore through our area earlier in the day. The statement, also posted to Fredericksburg.com's City Police Blog, is presented here in full: 

"This afternoon’s severe storm caused a lot of damage throughout the City to various structures, trees, and power lines, but fortunately no human injuries were reported. Between 4:15 pm and 7:00 pm, emergency personnel responded to over 150 calls for service. The majority of those calls involved trees and/or power lines down, and there were also countless fire/police alarms activated by the storm and power outages. Quite a few people had to be rescued from elevators when the loss of power stopped them between floors.

At the Virginia Deli on William Street, half of the metal roof was blown off and ended up in a nearby tree. A residence on Deerwood Drive sustained significant damage when a tree fell onto the roof. Both of those structures have been condemned by City building inspectors.

Residents whose homes or vehicles have been damaged by City-owned trees need to contact their own insurance companies to arrange for repair and removal. The City will remove trees and limbs that are blocking a roadway or sidewalk, but property owners are responsible for downed trees that are in contact with private property.

Residents should haul tree limbs and debris to the curb for City employees to remove starting tomorrow. Clean-up will continue throughout next week.

Approximately thirty traffic signals are out of service. Drivers need to treat any intersection whose traffic signal is out of service as a four-way stop.

All downed power lines should be considered LIVE and dangerous. Contact Dominion Virginia Power at 1-866-DOM-HELP<tel:1-866-DOM-HELP> to report downed lines or power outages. Dominion Virginia is reporting approximately 26,000 customers without power and those affected should not expect restoration of electricity before tomorrow.

To add insult to injury, our area is currently under a tropical storm watch in expectation of the arrival of Hurricane Irene over the weekend. Batten down the hatches."

Update: 8:14 p.m. - The power outage is affecting thousands of staff and students at the University of Mary Washington, according to one student tipster on Twitter. 

"UMW campus still without any electricity, all residence halls/dorms and apartments," writes Monique Delacruz via twitter. 

Elsewhere, Jim Planter reports outages in the vicinity of Charlotte Street in downtown Fredericksburg. Ryan Brosmer reports that he never lost power for more than a minute or two inside, but that traffic signals in the vicinity of Hanover and Princess Anne Street are not working. 

Ferry Farm resident Debbie Novalski reports that her neighborhood has been without power for about three hours. 

It's pretty much the same here at Patch HQ on Forbes and Caroline streets. We've been without power since about 4:45 p.m. 

Update: 7:29 p.m. - 

More than 21,000 residents in Spotsylvania and Stafford counties have been affected by power outages caused by this afternoon's powerful thunderstorm which whipped through the area, according to data from Dominion Power. 

Their outage map shows 7,782 without power in the city of Fredericksburg, 3,889 without power in Spotsylvania and 9344 without power in Stafford. 

The 21,000 without power locally make up the bulk of the customers reporting difficulties with their electricity in Dominion's Northern Virginia region, according to its website. 

Here in Fredericksburg, outages have been reported in the downtown area off of Caroline and Princess Anne streets. The neighborhoods on the northbound side of route 1 near the falmouth bridge are also entirely without power. Houses closer to Mary Washington Hospital report still having access to power. 

Update: 6:25 p.m. - Fredericksburg Police say local fire and rescue services are putting a priority on calls of trees into houses and across roadways. Here's the full message as posted on Facebook: 

"City crews are currently working on removing downed trees reported to be on houses and in the roadway. No collapsed buildings, but city inspectors are looking at houses and businesses with roof damage."

Meanwhile, police and fire rescue radio frequencies are chattering incessantly as dispatchers work to send crews out to a backlog of calls which came in the wake of the storm. Police are asking people via social networks to limit calls to the 911 center to emergency situations only.

Original Story - 

A powerful thunderstorm has swept through the area, bringing down many trees and power lines as it passed. 

The Fredericksburg Police report that the 911 center is busy responding to a high volume of calls following the incident. Rescue crews from a number of surrounding jurisdictions are working with Fredericksburg fire and rescue services to tackle the calls as they come in. Crews are currently working against a backlog of calls. 

"Please call only if you have an emergency," reads the notice posted on Facebook. "We will get there as soon as we can."

Perhaps the most dramatic damage done downtown occurred at the Virginia Deli at the corner of William and Sophia streets. The strong winds ripped off the tin roof like a can of sardines being opened. A large section of roof is wrapped and entangled in a tree next to the deli on William Street.

Describing the event as a crisis, Virginia Deli co-owner Linda Freedman was busy trying to salvage what she could. 

"The police have been in, the fire department's been in. They've told us basically to close up the building and get out," said Freedman. "We're trying to save as much of our food as we can, or we'll be pretty much out of business."

"I didn't hear the roof come off, honestly. I heard people upstairs screaming, or yelling." said Freedman. "I didn't think too much about it, and then my husband looked outside and saw the bricks falling off the roof and all that." 

Elsewhere, on Hanover Street, a large tree has broken completely at the base is now resting on a house. Fire crews have evacuated the people inside for fear that the structure may be compromised. 

Power lines were down throughout the area, and much of Fredericksburg remains without power. Traffic lights in downtown Fredericksburg were knocked out as well, snarling much of downtown traffic in a sort of light gridlock. 

This is a developing story, stay with Fredericksburg patch as new details are learned.