VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Low-lying areas are at risk of flooding on Thursday night through all of Hampton Roads. The area is expected to see two to three inches of rain Thursday night into Friday morning.
Public Works crews in Virginia Beach spent all day Thursday preparing for possible flooding. Workers cleaned out storm drains and ditches.
“The first thing we did is started checking the areas that are most likely to flood. Normally around here, that’s Rosemont, Windsor Woods, Lynnhaven Colony off Shore Drive,” explained Drew Lankford.
Lankford is the Virginia Beach Public Works spokesman. He said crews also check pump stations around the city. It’s something they do on a weekly basis but he said they triple-check when a storm is headed our way.
“Normally they operate fine but if something goes out of it there is any kind of problem that makes it a lot worse for us getting water out of the storm drain,” Lankford explained.
Crews are on standby to work throughout the night. Our 13News Now meteorologists said they are expecting to see strong wind gusts, a chance for an isolated tornado and lots of rain.
“If it’s still increasing and does not stop into the night, we will have crews working overnight and play it by ear and hour by hour,” Lankford said.
Lankford said Thursday night until Friday morning, drivers need to pay close attention to the roads. He said if they are flooded, don’t risk your life attempting to drive through it.