ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Saturday saw an extensive cleanup in Alexandria after Friday’s significant tidal flooding. Standing water remained on the street.
In some cases, the water poured into stores and restaurants in historic Old Town, from Mia’s restaurant to Starbucks.
It took heavy equipment to clean the streets of debris, including leaves, trash and wood that washed into town.
In some cases, it took buckets to empty the water that flooded into buildings. Neighbors said the tidal flooding event was the worst they'd seen in years.
"It’s a shame they didn’t build the sea wall like they were planning to earlier," one resident said. "I've only been here two years but it’s the worst I've seen."
Coy Stennett, server at Virtue Feed & Grain gestured nearly waist-high when asked how high the water line was outside the S. Union Street bar and restaurant. Workers used heavy-duty leaf blowers to move debris off the patio.
He said the water rose by several feet in less than an hour. All waterfront businesses were forced to close.
“It was like ‘Oh man, we’re going to have to close the restaurant,’ you know sandbags, nobody wanted to sit outside, everybody was running,” Stennett said. The water didn't breach Virtue as it did lower-set retailers.
Many businesses remained closed through the cleanup, with the goal of opening again Saturday afternoon so that employees could make up for lost work.
“Leg high, our socks, our shoes, everything was soaked,” said Stennett, who hoped the water would remain at bay through the next high tide.