Politics & Government

Derecho Recovery in Burke: Hit and Miss

Many stores are open, but pockets of residential areas remain without power. Tell us what you're seeing in Burke, in the Comments box!

Residents in the Burke and Springfield areas are fortunate in that many local stores are open as of Sunday. But pockets of power outages continue in some neighborhoods.

Burke Patch has been able to confirm these openings:

  • Burke Centre Shopping Center at Rt. 123 and Burke Centre Parkway
  • Burke Towne Center Shopping Center at Burke Centre Parkway and Roberts Parkway
  • Old Keene Mill Shopping Center at Old Keene Mill and Rolling Roads
  • Springfield Plaza at Old Keene Mill and Rolling Roads

If you can confirm others, please list them in the comments section of this article. In addition, Patch will be driving through Burke this afternoon to see what else may now be open.

Find out what's happening in Burkewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity has opened his , on Sunday. "This is not an official cooling center and we will have only water, a few board games and a TV, but it will be a place where people can go to escape the heat," Herrity said.

In addition, , not usually open on Sundays, will be open from 1 to 5 p.m. to serve as a cooling center.  Wi-fi and Internet is operational at this library branch.

Find out what's happening in Burkewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Many traffic lights remain dark, and residents are reminded to drive slowly and treat these intersections as an all-way stop. "Burke Road at Burke Lake Road, by the firehouse is the worst," wrote John Rose on Twitter. "[Drivers are] not even yielding for emergency vehicles."

According to the Virginia Department of Transportation: “Virginia law gives the right-of-way to the first vehicle to arrive at a four-way stop. In the event that vehicles are stopped at two or more roadway approaches, the driver on the right has the right-of-way. This generally leads to a clockwise traffic pattern.”

And as one person wrote, "just because you have the right of way doesn't mean you have to take it. Let the aggressive drivers go first and make it to your destination safely.


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