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The past few weeks have brought severe thunderstorms to the area, causing downed trees throughout rural parts of Buckingham County. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) says to give them one more week and the storm cleanup will be finished. 

According to Scott Fredrick, resident engineer with VDOT, the last two rounds of storms, both from earlier this week and last week, knocked down around 14 trees in Buckingham County.

VDOT crews are working across the county to get these scattered trees removed and Frederick anticipates having all the trees removed by the end of next week. The problem is these fallen trees aren’t concentrated in any specific areas. Due to the nature of the storms, the fallen trees are scattered throughout the county as they fall as the storms move through. 

“When storms come through like these and trees go down it’s, usually not in one area as it goes from street to street,” said Len Stevens, the district communications manager for VDOT. 

Even though over a dozen trees are down, none of them are blocking any roadways. All fallen trees are on the side of the roads waiting to be removed the rest of the way. VDOT officials said drivers should feel confident that their commutes should not be impacted by fallen trees or other debris on the roads from these storms as the roads should be clear. 

“It’s not a major situation at this time as no roadways are blocked at this point,” said Stevens. 

No storm cleanup needed nearby

The same goes for Prince Edward and Cumberland counties, there is currently no word on any clean-ups needed in those areas. Any trees that may have fallen from last week’s storms should be off the road by now so residents of these counties shouldn’t feel any impact while traveling on the roads. If one is found, residents can call 1-800-367-7623 to report the problem.