Washington Area Recovers From Irene: Morning Links

Good morning, Washington. Hopefully everyone had a safe weekend as Hurricane Irene blew through the area.

Washington Area Assesses Hurricane Damage: City and county governments in the area are surveying damage from the hurricane that blew through the East Coast this weekend. Some residents say they were disappointed with the hurricane’s power, reports Rachel Baye at the Washington Examiner. Still, as of Sunday evening, the area had five reported deaths due to the hurricane, including one 11-year-old boy in Newport News, Virginia, who was killed by a falling tree smashing into the apartment in which he lived, NBC4 reports. Montgomery County has closed several of its schools today, since 22 of them were without power as of 8:30 PM Sunday evening. Baltimore area schools are also closed today. Most DC schools remain open today. David Hill at the Washington Times reports that nearly 500,000 people are without power after the weekend’s storm, with the heaviest damage concentrated in central Virginia and Southern Maryland. Pepco won’t say so far when people will have power restored to their homes because, according to spokesperson Bob Hainey, “We’re not issuing estimated restoration times until we figure out exactly what the damage is.”  ARLNow is reporting several road closures and power outages, as well as one minor storm-related injury. Amtrak canceled some trains today and is working to restore service. Many airline travelers are waiting to get out after many flights were canceled over the weekend. And Yahoo! News’s local reporters posted photos and video of damage on one DC block, the 500 block of R Street, Northwest.

Dozens Visit MLK Memorial Despite Dedication Cancelation: DCist reported that, though Sunday’s planned dedication for the new Martin Luther King memorial was postponed due to hurricane predictions, dozens still visited the memorial yesterday with what turned out to be very nice weather. Yesterday marked the 48th anniversary of MLK’s “I have a dream” speech. Though, as Greater Greater Washington points out, visitors have to walk nearly a mile to the memorial from the closest Metro stop.

Soldier Killed Four, Then Self: A recently returned soldier from Fort Lee, Virginia, was sought after killing four people and shooting at police officers on Sunday. Authorities caught up with Leonard John Egland after he died of a self-inflicted wound, WJLA reports.

Briefly Noted: Georgetown University students say DC’s redistricting plan leaves them out of representation in city government. . . . Greater Greater Washington dives into the question of why Amtrak tickets in the Northeast corridor aren’t cheaper.

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Kay Steiger