From Rachel Nania. Check out her blog, Sear, Simmer & Stir. Follow Nania on Twitter @rnania, email her at rachel[AT]borderstan.com
The site of the accident on 15th Street NW next to Meridian Hill Park where Carolina Alcalde was injured. (Courtesy of Alcalde Facebook Group)
DC Storms this past weekend left more than just closed roads, cable-less apartments and powerless homes; this summer storm affected lives. And one such life affected was Carolina Alcalde — an Adams Morgan neighbor and active member of the community, according a friend, Victoria Fulkerson. While riding her motorcycle home from a massage in Virginia on June 29, Alcalde was hit by a falling pine tree on 15th Street NW next to Meridian Hill Park and knocked off her bike.
Neighbors immediately rushed to her side and flagged down a passing ambulance in the midst of the city’s storm. Alcalde was rushed to George Washington Hospital, but was diagnosed with a severed spinal cord and was left paralyzed from the midsection down.
If you want to donate to help with Alcalde’s recovery, please visit the donation site that Alcalde’s friends and family set up. You an also get more information about Alcalde’s recovery at an open Facebook Group.
How to Help Alcalde
Doctors placed two rods and numerous screws in Alcalde’s spine for support, but she still has five broken ribs, a fractured shoulder blade, slight bleeding in her brain, and trauma to her lungs, causing bleeding. She will now require assistance with breathing.
“Carolina is very active in the community and participates on many boards and leadership committees that positively contribute the lives of DC residents. She is an avid motorcyclist as well as a wonderful and strong person that has more love and warmth than anyone you’ll ever meet,” according to Fulkerson.
Alcalde’s injuries will require recovery in the Intensive Care Unit, in addition to time spent in physical rehabilitation. Due to the exorbitant costs, Alcalde’s friends and family are seeking contributions to her medical bills. If you want to donate to help with Alcalde’s recovery, please visit the donation site that Alcalde’s friends and family set up.
You an also get more information about Alcalde’s recovery at an open Facebook Group.
From Rachel Nania. Check out her blog, Sear, Simmer & Stir. Follow Nania on Twitter @rnania, email her at rachel[AT]borderstan.com
News from Dupont-Logan-U Street
On Monday, July 2, DC Government offices will be open, but DC Public Schools will remain closed as DC continues to respond to power outages that resulted from Friday night’s severe weatheras well as the extreme heat that has followed. Students and staff assigned to summer school should not report.
The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) announced that all OSSE school bus service is suspended tomorrow – including transportation of children enrolled in non-public placements and in other jurisdictions. Fr more information, visit the DC Homeland Security department website and the DC Government website.
The alley between T and U Streets on 13th Street NW: Six houses suffered wind damage from the late-night June 29 wind and rain storm. (Jerry Schultz)
See more photos of Friday night’s storm damage in the Dupont-Logan-U Street area area on Flickr.
The wind gusts on Friday night, June 29, only lasted 10 to 15 minutes. But with wind gusts at 70-plus miles per hour, the brief wind storm, followed by a hard rain, did extensive damage in the DC metro area. The Borderstan area seemed to miss the worst of the storm damage, but there were still a number of downed trees and large tree limbs in local streets. What unusual was that residents in downtown areas who usually never lose their electric power did so Friday night. Some residents reported they still had power, but lost their Internet and cable connections.
Pepco power lines in the Borderstan area mostly underground, which means the neighborhood rarely looses power even when outer DC neighborhoods and suburbs do — trees cannot take down a buried power line. A quick drive around the Borderstan area showed large trees or large limbs down on a number of streets, including 13th Street NW just north of Logan Circle and at the intersection of New Hampshire Avenue and 18th Street NW.
Pepco serves customers in DC and Maryland, and according to a DC Alert, “Friday night’s violent windstorm that ripped through the Washington area has devastated the Pepco electric system, leaving more than 443,000 of Pepco’s 788,000 customers without power. Due to the widespread damage and the large number of outages, the power restoration effort is expected to take several days.”
Across the Potomac in Virginia, Dominion Electric serves 831,000 customers in the Northern Virginia area and 367,000 were still without power as of 7:30 pm today.
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