CULPEPER EARTHQUAKE: Inspectors race against time

Following Tuesday’s earthquake Culpeper County building officials raced to inspect downtown buildings trying to prevent further damage with the expected remnant effects of Category 3 Hurricane Irene looming.

Headed by Bob Orr, Culpeper County building inspector, the crews hope to finish by Friday.

“We’re afraid with the wind and the pending storm that something could come down those roofs. We’re just working through and trying to open as many streets as we can,” said Orr.

The following roads are still closed: Main Street between Chandler and Evans streets, the 100 block of West Davis Street, East Street from East Culpeper Street to East Spencer Street and the 100 block of West Cameron Street.

Police say portions of Main Street will likely be closed for a couple days while officials stabilize buildings.

Orr said chimney damage has been the main problem.

“We’re having several, I mean six or seven chimneys just on [N. East St.] here, that were shifted off its base or have completely detached,” he said.

Orr warned Culpeper residents to inspect their chimneys.

“What I’d like the homeowner to do is, in this area, if they have a masonry chimney going out of their roof, they need to go out in their yard and look at it. If it appears damaged, with the window of time we have it’s not enough time to get it fixed before the storm, they need to hire somebody to get that braced,” said Orr.

He reported that structural damage was confined to mostly brick buildings with wood being “more elastic” than brick. Nine structures in town were condemned.

A vacant storefront at 118 N. Main St. — formerly known as Levy’s and more recently housing Skinnie’s Barber Shop — was deemed beyond repair and will be razed. As a result of the condemnation, 16 adults and one infant were displaced from a residential apartment complex at the rear of the building. The Red Cross is working to provide assistance to the families.

It is unclear what will happen to Bella Mia’s deli, immediately adjacent to the doomed building.

According to Town Council member Bobby Ryan, every effort will be made to protect the common-walled locations, which includes Bella Mia’s Deli.

The blue building has a major crack visible on the left side that juts above the neighboring building.

Aside from two previously reported injuries, no more have been reported.

Culpeper County Public Schools, after delaying Wednesday’s scheduled first day of school, will open today.

“I am very pleased with the report on the condition of our buildings. It will take maintenance a few days to address the issues that were identified, but none of the damage prevents us from starting school,” said CCPS superintendent Bobbi Johnson.

Friday night’s Culpeper County High School football game versus Louisa County has been cancelled. At this time, no make-up date has been scheduled.

Germanna Community College will remain closed through the weekend due to damage to a building at the Fredericksburg campus. Classes online and at campus locations have been cancelled for the week.

At a morning meeting discussing the emergency, Culpeper County Administrator Frank Bossio pointed out that the train crossing bridge at Winston was also cracked and the rails had dropped four inches.

The main concern among town officials at the meeting was making sure the buildings were secured before Hurricane Irene arrived.

“The problem now, again, is we’re concerned about some of the old buildings,” Culpeper mayor Calvin “Chip” Coleman said. “We’re waving all the architectural zoning regulations to get these things (chimneys) down. Our main concern is downtown and the hurricane coming.”