Waiting for spring: These poor boats are trapped in the ice.
The Great Falls of the Potomac River
This time lapse photo features Great Falls, a series of nasty steep rapids on the Potomac River. You can hear the deafening roar from miles away. Seven people a year die in these rapids, crushed or drowned. The photo was Explored on Flickr.
Low Tide Sunrise
Endless sunrises to witness on the Potomac River. This low tide variation was taken at Dyke’s Marsh.
The Secret to Success: Impact and Experience
I gave the following commencement speech yesterday in Richmond to Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Mass Communications. The speech focuses on what makes for a successful career in communications, specifically by navigating today’s fast moving media environment. The keys to success are gaining experience and delivering impact.
Thank you to Bill Farrar, Yan Jin, Jon Newman and the rest of the faculty at VCU for having me. And thanks to those of you who took the poll and answered questions on the challenges facing today’s communications students entering the job market.
House Flooded (and the Fairfax County Cops Just Watched)
Cameron Run jumped its banks in Alexandria, Virginia this evening. A surge of water flooded the street immediately after filming this video. We escaped with water lapping at our tires.
The area was already saturated by Hurricane Irene, and non-stop rains from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee proved to be too much for Cameron Run. Fairfax County Emergency Government failed to clear the neighborhood or warn people to move their cars despite prior incidents with the Run. While the Fairfax County Government said in public statements that they evacuated the neighborhood, the police literally sat in parked cars and watched the waters rise.
This was the scene of the flood of 2006, dubbed a 100 year flood by Fairfax County government and Virginia DoT, who both shunned responsibility for that event. That flood displaced 150 homes temporarily and caused millions of dollars of damages.
So, right now we are out of a home. We’ll be living in a hotel this weekend, and will be assessing the damage to determine what to do next.
I think both Caitlin and I feel two 100 year floods in five years is a bit much, and are likely to take this opportunity to wish the Huntington neighborhood fair tidings as we move elsewhere. Of course, we are a bit sore, too, right now, but we have to think about our daughter’s welfare, too.
Last time we sustained $50,000 worth of uninsured damages to our house. This time we have much more robust flood insurance, thank goodness. A rare ask to wish us well as we figure this out.
And a final word to the media who reported Fairfax County Government’s evacuation claims. Check your facts.
Photos and Stories from the Flood – September, 10
Below find photos from the flood clean-up that began yesterday.