County Executive Declares Local State of Emergency

Little more than rain and occasional gusts of wind has touched Centreville in the last few hours, but the Fairfax County executive has signed a declaration of emergency for the entire county. 

Anthony Griffin said in a YouTube video posted Saturday evening that the state of emergency was declared mostly as a convenience in case the county needed to apply for federal or state aid as a result of Hurricane Irene. 

"It is a document that gives us some additional flexibility in terms of the staff being able to respond to the emergency caused by Hurricane Irene" Griffin said "But I hasten to add that because I've declared a local emergency, this doesn't have any immediate impact on residents. And there isn't a requirement or a need for residents to evacuate or take any precautions beyond those that have been advertised by Fairfax County and by local governments and by media in the last couple days in anticipation of the storm." 

"It gives us the ability to apply for federal assistance or state assistance should we incur enough damage to qualify for such assistance. But I hasten again—this is a document that's more convenient for the use of the staff and for the government," Griffin said. 

As a result of the declaration, cars may not park along roads marked as a "snow emergency route." A list of emergency routes is available here.

Fairfax County as a whole remains under a flash flood warning until 11 p.m. Flooding was reported earlier in the evening in the Huntington area. The worst weather should arrive in the metro area around midnight. 

To follow regional updates on Hurricane Irene, like Patch's Northern Virginia Hurricane Irene Facebook page, or for more local updates, like the Centreville Patch Facebook page.