Severe storm wreaks havoc

We’re hearing reports of power lines down on Caroline Street in Fredericksburg across from the library’s main headquarters.

We’ve also heard that lightening has hit a transformer on Fall Hill Avenue near the Virginia Outdoor Center. There are also trees down on Fall Hill Avenue.

There’s also a powerline down on Pelham Street in Fredericksburg.

There has been a report of a tree on fire on Wallace Street in Fredericksburg.

There are trees down on Brooke Road in Stafford.

At 5 p.m. a power outage was reported at the Fredericksburg train station. There are no  elevators or lights working, according to VRE’s Ryan Lange.

Power is out in several locations, including Central Park and the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg. Police are directing traffic at both locations.

At least 25,000 customers are without power in the Fredericksburg area, according to Dominion Virginia Power Spokeswoman Daisy Pridgen.

According to Rappahannock Electric Cooperative’s website, there are more than 4,000 customers without power in Orange County, about 370 in Spotsylvania, more than 100 in Culpeper and a few in Louisa counties.

College Avenue in downtown Fredericksburg is blocked.

A tree branch is down on Princess Anne Street near Amelia Street in Fredericksburg.

The fence at Amelia Square is also down.

Trees have fallen on Rt. 1 southbound, in the right lane on Falmouth Bridge.

UPDATE: 6:13 p.m. The National Weather Service has issued a  tropical storm watch  until 5:45 p.m. Friday.

UPDATE: 6:18 p.m. The tin roof of Virginia Deli, at William and Sophia Streets flew off and landed in a tree.

UPDATE: 6:29 p.m. UMW’s weather station recorded wind gusts of up to 57 miles per hour around 4:30 p.m. Also, 1.34 inches of rain were recorded in the city. Someone in Spotsylvania county reported that six inches of rain fell there.

>raining here but I just checked the rain gauges. Six inches of rain fell here >in Spotsylvania from that storm.

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