Windstorm causes widespread damage

The windstorm uprooted a tree on Cindy Lane, Annandale. [Raffie Shahrigian]

The windstorm on March 2 caused significant damage to homes and cars throughout Northern Virginia. Trees were down all over, and Dominion Energy reported more than 100,000 people in Fairfax County lost power at some point.

In the Annandale area, as of 9 p.m. last night, the police department reported a tree and wires blocking the road at 3005 Cedarwood Lane, a pole and wires in the roadway at Holmes Run Road and Beechwood Drive, and a pole in the roadway at 6428 Woodbridge Road.

Trees are blocking roadways on the corner of Annandale Road and Statecrest Drive, Elwood Drive and Sleepy Hollow Road, 7411 Chester Drive, 3924 Howard St., and Ravensworth Road and Jayhawk Street.

Tree lands on a house on Stonybrae Drive in Lake Barcroft. [Larry Golfer]

According to VDOT, fallen trees blocked Trammel Road, Masonville Drive, and Duncan Drive, Cherokee Avenue and Little River Turnpike, and Holborn Avenue and Wakefield Chapel Road in Annandale and Shadeland Drive in Seven Corners.

If you have storm damage, here are some tips from Fairfax County’s emergency information blog:

• Only call 911 if there’s a safety concern. Otherwise call the non-emergency police number, 703-691-2131.
• If your power is, out contact Dominion Energy, 866-366-4357, www.dom.com/outage-center.
• If you’re trying to file a claim for storm damage and don’t know how to reach your insurance company or agent, contact the Bureau of Insurance, 804-71-9741, 800-552-7945, or [email protected]. 
• Take pictures of your damaged property before cleaning it up to submit with your claim. Save your repair receipts. 
• More information on dealing with disasters is available from the Virginia State Corporation Commission. 

A tree blocks Woodland Circle in Lake Barcroft. [Larry Golfer]

• When hiring a contractor to fix damaged property, ask to see a copy of the contractor’s license from the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR). Visit the DPOR website to look up contractor licenses or call 804-367-8511. 
• Contractors knocking on doors must have a solicitor license issued by the Fairfax County Department of Cable and Consumer Services. 
• Call the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services, Permits Branch, at 703-324-1555, to determine whether a permit is necessary. Ask for information on each contractor’s licensing and disciplinary status.
• Obtain bids from three contractors, ask for three references from each, and find out if the contractor provided a monetary discount or payment in exchange for using a consumer as a reference.
• If you have complaints about contractor fraud or shoddy work by an unlicensed contractor, call the Consumer Services Division, 703-222-8435, and ask to speak to a consumer specialist. The office is open weekdays, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.