Still Assessing Storm Damage, Extension Sought

Governor Tom Corbett has asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, to extend its May 24 deadline for Pennsylvania to request a major disaster declaration for damage from recent severe storms.
The governor said that flooding, high winds and tornadoes have battered much of the state....
"Repeated heavy rains here and in neighboring states have left rivers and streams running higher and faster than normal. In addition, with each storm local officials are busy with critical life safety and property preservation efforts than can delay their opportunity to thoroughly assess damages in a timely manner."

The governor said the extension would give local and state officials needed time to assess infrastructure damage that currently can't be seen due to high water and inaccessible roadways particularly in rural areas.

Baseball and Softball: Dominion at Broad Run Games Pushed Back a Day

(May 4, 2011) - A day after falling for the first time this season in Dulles District play, the Broad Run High School baseball team will get an extra day rest as tonight's home game with Dominion has been pushed back a day due to wet field conditions in Ashburn. The Spartans girls softball, which fell by the 10-run rule at Potomac Falls as well Tuesday night, is also delaying its game with

News: Threat of Storms Forces Some Schedule Changes for Freedom vs. Woodgrove Contests

(May 3, 2011) - Due to the threat of thunderstorms tonight, some game times have been changed in advance:

Freedom athletic updates for Tuesday, May 3 as of 11:00am
Due to the risk of thunderstorms tonight....
Soccer vs. Woodgrove--Varsity will play first at both locations and begin at 5:30pm. The JV games will start immediately following at approximately 7pm. We will forego the starting

Local Red Cross Volunteers Help in Alabama

The devastating tornadoes that hit the South Wednesday are now the second deadliest outbreak in U.S. history with 339 fatalities.
In 1925, 747 people were killed in a line of storms that ripped through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.
Emergency buildings are wiped out, and in one neighborhood, the storms even left firefighters to work without a truck.
Alabama suffered the most destruction from the tornadoes with at least 248 deaths. Alabama Governor Robert Bentley says 1,700 people were injured by the tornadoes.

The American Red Cross of Southwestern Pennsylvania has deployed 2 emergency response vehicles (ERV) and 4 volunteers to Hoover, Alabama to help victims of the storms. The volunteers, Phil Shumway of Carnegie, Tom Palmquist of Bethel Park, Kenneth Brown of Pleasant Hills and Carole Magargee of Greenville, Mercer County left last night and are driving the ERV's to Alabama. They will assist with the mobile feeding of victims. Their deployments are expected to last 2 to 3 weeks but the Red Cross says the ERV's could remain on site longer.

News: Wet Weather Postpones Games (Again!)

(Apr. 28, 2011) - The rain overnight and this morning has postponed some games this evening. Please check with your school before heading out, here is what VivaLoudoun has been sent by schools as of 3:30 p.m.:

Briar Woods
no changes reported

Broad Run
Today's boys and girls lacrosse games have been canceled for today. Varsity girls lacrosse will play tomorrow Friday April 29 at 6pm at Loudoun

Soccer: Freedom and Loudoun County Move Up Varsity Start Times Due to Threat of Bad Weather

(Apr. 27, 2011) - The boys and girls varsity soccer games between Freedom and Loudoun County tonight will start at 6 p.m. instead of 7:30 p.m. The change was made dues to the threat of thunderstorms this evening.

JV games will now start at 7:30 p.m. with boys at Freedom and girls at Loudoun County. Also, the baseball and softball games scheduled for 6 p.m. at Freedom may start a bit early

Major Storm Wreaks Havoc in Westmoreland

A funnel cloud that may have been a tornado tore through Westmoreland County yesterday, damaging homes and businesses in its path. No major injuries or deaths have been reported.

The storm hit hardest in Hempfield Township, where the Hempfield Area School District announced an emergency closure after the high school sustained heavy damage to its stadium and auditorium. Many homes in the Greensburg-area community had their roofs ripped off by the high-speed wind, and several were totally destroyed.

Westmoreland County Commissioner Tom Balya says about 30 homes total were damaged, 20 being in Hempfield and 10 in Sewickley Township.

The storm also pelted large hailstones and heavy rain throughout the region.

Westmoreland County Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator Dan Stevens says the storm caused millions of dollars in damage to homes and businesses. Stevens says it's amazing nobody was killed or severely injured.

"24 years working for Westmoreland County Emergency Services, and this is the worst storm I've ever seen here in Westmoreland County,” says Stevens. “This is definitely what I’ve coined the ‘March Miracle’ with regard to this storm: nobody injured, nobody killed, and we can replace all the stuff that was damaged and broken.”

Red Cross of Westmoreland County Executive Director Donna Pacella says her team of about 50 responders was able to give food and shelter to several people last night.

“We anticipate more today, simply because we’re going out into the neighborhoods today to do noble feedings with our emergency response vehicles around lunchtime today,” says Pacella. “We also have a shelter available for people at Hempfield Municipal Building in Hempfield Township.”

The National Weather Service is investigating the damage and will decide today if the storm was a tornado.

Baseball: Loudoun Valley JV Contest at Centreville Rescheduled for Tuesday

(Mar. 21, 2011) - The Loudoun Valley High School JV baseball game scheduled at Centreville today has been moved to Tuesday at 6 p.m. All other Vikings contests are on as scheduled.

Boys Lacrosse: Broad Run to Play Varsity Only Match Tonight vs. Robinson

(Mar. 21, 2011) - Due to wet playing conditions the Broad Run vs. Robinson JV boys lacrosse match has been postponed to a later date. The Spartans and Rams will still play a varsity contest starting at 7 p.m.

News: Stone Bridge Postpones Baseball, Moves Varsity Lacrosse Matches Up

(Mar. 21, 2011) - The Stone Bridge High School baseball season opener with Chantilly has been postponed until March 30 due to wet playing conditions.

The Bulldog boys and girls varsity lacrosse matches against Chantilly (boys at home and girls away) have been moved up with the JV matches postponed to a later date. The boys will now face off at 5:30 p.m. in Ashburn and the girls at 6 p.m. in

News: Freedom Postpones Baseball and Softball with Heritage to Wednesday

(Mar. 21, 2011) - The wet weather has forced Freedom High School to postpone its baseball and softball games with Heritage today until Wednesday.

JV softball with Broad Run and JV baseball with Heritage have also been pushed to Wednesday.

The following contests will take place as scheduled today:
Freedom Girls Tennis Home vs. Loudoun County, 4:30
Freedom Boys Tennis Away @ Loudoun County, 4:30

News: Loudoun Schools Turn 2-Hour Delay into Full Closure

(Feb. 1, 2011) - The start of February is looking an awful like the end of January for Loudoun County Public Schools students as the schools are closed today after icy conditions this morning, making it the fifth school closure due to weather since Jan. 18 and seven missed days counting holidays and teacher workdays since Jan. 17.

In fact, with midterms sandwiched around the weather

Breaking News: Parents You May Want to Avert Your Eyes ... Kids Rejoice: Loudoun Schools Closed on Friday

(Jan. 27, 2010) - Loudoun County Public Schools officially extended its unofficial semester break one more day with schools being closed Friday. That makes four straight days out as Tuesday was a Teacher Workday and the next three days were claimed by the snowstorm and its aftermath. The first semester came to an end on Monday so the second semester now starts Monday, Jan. 31.

We are assuming

News: Another Night of Postponements

(Jan. 27, 2011) - The snow has stopped but its another night of postponements with schools out today in Loudoun.

Thurs. Jan. 27 - ALL EVENTS PPD or CANCELLED
Boys Basketball
Shenandoah Valley Academy at Middleburg Academy CANCELLED(no make-up)
Park View at Woodgrove PPD (make-up 1.29 at 6:30 p.m.)
Freedom at Dominion PPD (make-up 1.29, 7:30 p.m.)

Girls Basketball
Shenandoah Valley Academy at

News: Loudoun Schools to Close Two Hours Early, All Games Postponed

(Dec. 16, 2010) - Loudoun County Public Schools are closing two hours early Thursday due to the snow. All activities requiring bus transportation are postponed. Activities at schools not requiring buses are at the school's decision.

City Crews React to Snowfall

With about an inch and a half of snow falling on the region today, the Pittsburgh Public Works got another test run in road treatment in preparation for a larger storm. Bob Kaczorowski, Director of the Public works, says that today’s clean up went well, but the start of the snowfall wasn’t prime for clean-up efforts.

“The timing of the storm was such that coming in at 3:30 it was a little tough for us to get to everything in that timeframe before morning rush,” Kaczorowski says.

Public Works has developed a new plan at the urging of city council and the mayor that created emergency routes that supersede the primary and secondary routes of the city. In the event of a large unexpected snowfall the likes of which the region received last February.

While the plan hasn’t been utilized yet this season, Kaczorowski has voiced his confidence that in the case of an emergency snowstorm, the essential routes in and out of the city will be the first cleared and then closely monitored. According to Kaczorowski there are about 220 miles of snow emergency routes selected from the roughly 792 miles of primary routes that are designated as the emergency routes in case of a blizzard-like snowfall.

Kaczorowski suggests that drivers who do not need to leave their houses do just that in the event of a snowstorm. For those who have to get to work, he suggests leaving early and being patient with the likely delays caused from the snow clean-up and inevitable accidents.

Football: Weather for Tonight's Playoff Games

(Nov. 12, 2010) - If you are headed out to tonight's playoff football games, here is your forecast: It should be around 51 degrees with light winds (5 mph) at kickoff dropping to about 41 degrees by the end of the game. So bundle up and enjoy!

Football: Stone Bridge Moves up Freshman, JV Games with South Lakes to Tonight

(Nov. 3, 2010) - In attempt to beat any inclement weather expected Thursday, Stone Bridge High School has moved its freshman and JV football games with South Lakes to tonight. The freshman game will start at 6:30 p.m. followed by JV at 8 p.m.

News: Chilly Night Ahead -- Freeze Warning -- Upper 20s!

(Nov. 1, 2010) - The National Weather Service has issued a freeze warning for Loudoun and the surrounding areas from 3 a.m. to 9 a.m. Tuesday. Expect upper 20s to around 30 degrees late tonight and early Tuesday morning. Conditions that will kill crops and other sensitive vegetation -- and drive the VivaLoudoun Fox indoors for sure!

Football: Tonight's Park View vs. Potomac Falls Freshman/JV Games Moved to Tuesday Due to Rain

Sterling (Oct. 4, 2010) - The freshman and JV football games schedule for tonight between Park View and Potomac Falls has been postponed due to weather and wet field conditions. The games will be played tomorrow night at Potomac Falls High School at 5:45 and 7 p.m.

Visit APEX Gymnastics and thank them for supporting VivaLoudoun!