Henrico residents are cleaning up today in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, which pounded the region with tropical storm-force winds for more than 12 hours. The storm dumped about 5 to 7 inches of rain across the county and brought down hundreds of trees, causing massive power outages throughout Henrico.

As of 1 p.m. Sunday, more than 86,000 of Dominion Virginia Power's 143,000 Henrico customers were without power. The largest pockets of outages were in the Tuckahoe District (near Parham Road's intersections with Patterson Avenue and River Road); Short Pump (near Short Pump Town Center); Mountain Road in Glen Allen (near RF&P Park); Parham Road near West Broad Street; Route 5 in Varina near I-295; and Nine Mile Road near Laburnum in Eastern Henrico.


Some service has been restored in the county today, but Dominion officials initially could not offer a timeline for the restoration of other service. By later this afternoon, however, officials were telling some customers to expect their power back between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. tonight. Company officials are examining conditions throughout the region today and plan to release a more detailed schedule Monday afternoon describing when power will return to those customers experiencing outages.

Henrico County closed a temporary shelter at Rolfe Middle School in Varina this morning but will continue to operate one at Elko Middle School in Sandston.

The county also opened family assistance shelters at Belmont Recreation Center in Lakeside and Deep Run Recreation Center in the West End from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. today for residents who need access to electricity to recharge medical equipment or those seeking basic comforts, such as air conditioning.

In addition, Henrico will open free water filling stations for residents beginning at 4 p.m. Sunday at Fire Station No. 2, 2400 Darbytown Road in Varina; and at Fire Station No. 15, 3820 Mountain Road in Glen Allen. Residents should bring their own containers; bottled water will not be provided.

Residents with questions or concerns in the wake of Irene should call the Henrico Hurricane Hotline at (804) 501-7413.