200 injured by 3 Virginia tornadoes
SUFFOLK, Va. (AP) - April 29, 2008 One twister in this city outside Norfolk cut a zigzagging path
25 miles long through residential areas, obliterating some homes in
sprays of splintered lumber while leaving others just a few feet
away untouched.
Brenda Williams, 43, returned Tuesday to the shopping center
where she was buried beneath a collapsed ceiling in a manicure shop
during the storm. She was pulled to safety by a stranger, she said.
"I'm not lucky, I'm blessed," said Williams, who had a 2-inch
gash stitched above her left eyebrow and stitches on her right
forearm. "I'm fine. I'm here. I'm in the land of the living."
She retrieved possessions from her car, which was flipped on its
roof and destroyed in the parking lot.
Several roads were closed Tuesday morning, and traffic was
backed up leading into downtown Suffolk, a city of approximately
80,000 outside Norfolk.
City officials said rescue crews had gone through damaged areas
and homes during the night and planned to keep searching for
victims.
"We have had no reports of anybody missing," said Bob
Spieldenner of the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
"Looking at some of that damage, if we get out of this without any
fatalities we'll be very lucky."
Of the 200 injured, only six were listed in critical condition
and six were listed as serious.
Officials listed 125 Suffolk homes and 15 buildings as
uninhabitable.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine declared a state of emergency, which frees
up resources for those areas hit hardest. Kaine planned to visit
some of the most damaged areas on Tuesday.
Jennifer Haines and her two young girls hid in a cubbyhole in
her house in Suffolk as the tornado hit about three blocks away.
"It sounded like someone shuffling a giant deck of cards or a
herd of wild animals coming through. You could feel the house
shaking and hear the wind coming in through the cracks in the
windows," Haines said.
"It was so scary I felt like I was having a heart attack."
Keith Godwin and his wife and two kids took shelter in their
bathroom after he looked out a window and saw one of the funnel
clouds.
The Godwins' home is fine except for some debris, as are the
rest of those on their side of the street. But houses across the
street were badly damaged, including two completely wiped off their
foundations and one that was tossed on top of another home.
"All that's left is a concrete slab," Godwin said.
Insulation, wiring and twisted metal hung from the front of a
mall stripped bare of its facing. At another store, the sheet metal
roofing was rolled up like a sardine can lid. Some of the cars and
SUVs in the parking lot were on top of others.
"It's just a bunch of broken power poles, telephone lines and
sad faces," said Richard Allbright, who works for a tree removal
service in Driver and had been out for hours trying to clear the
roads.
The National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes struck
Suffolk, Brunswick County, about 60 miles west, and Colonial
Heights, about 60 miles northwest. Meteorologist Bryan Jackson
described Suffolk's as a "major tornado."
The Brunswick County tornado was estimated at 86 mph to 110 mph,
and cut a 300-yard path, Jackson said. It struck first, at about 1
p.m., said Mike Rusnak, a weather service meteorologist in
Wakefield.
The second struck Colonial Heights around 3:40 p.m., he said.
The tornado believed to have caused damage over a 25-mile path
from Suffolk to Norfolk touched down repeatedly between 4:30 and 5
p.m., Rusnak said.
At least 200 were injured in Suffolk and 18 others were injured
in Colonial Heights, south of Richmond, said Bob Spieldenner of the
Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
Sentara hospital spokesman Dale Gauding said about 70 people
were treated there, "lots of cuts and bruises" and arm and leg
injuries. Three were admitted in fair condition.
Property damage also was reported in Brunswick County, one of
several places where the weather service had issued a tornado
warning. State Police Sgt. Michelle Cotten said a twister destroyed
two homes. Trees and power lines were down, and some flooding was
reported.
About 3,000 Dominion Virginia Power customers lost electrical
service Monday night.
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Associated Press writers Dena Potter and Larry O'Dell
contributed to this report from Richmond.