the way that craig fifer said, for the most pasht of the worst of this has passed. we're in a better place than we were two hours ago. but clearly this is not going away over the next couple of hours. you heard about what they said about having to get to the side streets. it's going to take a couple of days. i've heard from some people on twitter tonight especially out in loudoun county. they really got hammered out there. it's going to be a while before we can get these streets plowed. we're really lucky where we are with the power outages. craig correct me if i'm wrong, you said there were no power outages in the city of alexandria? >> we're not aware of any. that's a good thing. you know what's going to keep that like that? people off the roads. if people start getting into cars and driving into telephone polls, it's going to be a different situation in the next couple of days. so if you like that electricity, stay at home and enjoy it because that's the best way to keep our lights on for the next couple of days. i any we got through that relatively unscathed. we

. >> all right craig fifer alexandria director of communications we thank you for your time. thanks again. >> i hope everybody stays safe down there. obviously no matter where you talk in the region, there is snow. the question is how much. melanie has been keeping an eye on all things up to the north of the district. she's been standing in front of drifts that are about 15 feet high if not not taller. what do you have in your hand there? >> reporter: we've had to go to the extended version of the measuring stick or the measuring tape, as it were. and we know this is unscientific and we all laugh about it. but if that were in fact not a drift we would say that was about 20 inches there of snow. it does seem like it's slowed down a little bit and the winds are starting to change somewhat. they're still doing a fantastic job here clearing these parking lots. again these are private contractors so what you see here with this black pavement here is not at all indicative of what the roads are like around the area. montgomery county fire and rescue just saying even their own rescue