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The high winds and heavy rain forecast for the Washington area Friday showed up around 3 p.m. and made for a miserable rush hour.
A storm knocked down a tree on a portion of Interstate 66 in Arlington, at milepost 73, injuring two people, stated Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer McCord.
The extent of their injuries was not clear, but the tree took more than an hour to clear from the highway while drivers sat helplessly in their cars and watched rescue crews work.
As soon as the tree was cleared to the side of the road and drivers began to move again just after 4 p.m., another crash closed another portion of the highway about 30 miles down the line.
A two-car wreck closed at least three lanes of I-66 at milepost 52, near Centreville. That crash, fortunately for many drivers, didn’t take that long to clear from the road.
No serious injuries were reported in that crash.
The weather also affected Woodbridge residents when power lines came down in a neighborhood off of Longview Drive about 4:20 p.m.
And then there were the wrecks that tied up Prince William County Fire and Rescue crews on U.S. 1. There were also several crashes reported on Vint Hill Road in western Prince William.
Severe weather, in the form of heavy rains and high winds and possible isolated tornadoes, was forecast during the day by the National Weather Service’s office in Sterling. Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park, plus many of its surrounding jurisdictions, remained under a severe thunderstorm watch for most of the day.
Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.
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