Cleanup begins after severe storm kills 4 in Virginia, leaves power outages
Cleanup begins after severe storm kills 4 in Virginia, leaves power outages
(about 3 hours later)
Virginia residents on Thursday surveyed the damage from severe storms the previous day that brought flooding, touched off tornadoes and left four people dead while injuring others.
Virginia residents on Thursday surveyed the damage from a severe storm system the previous day that brought flooding, touched off tornadoes and left four people dead and others injured.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) declared a state of emergency and toured the hardest-hit areas of Waverly, Appomattox and Tappahannock.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) declared a state of emergency and toured the hard-hit communities of Waverly, Appomattox and Tappahannock.
Two men and a 2-year-old boy were killed Wednesday in Waverly, about 40 miles southeast of Richmond, when their mobile home was destroyed in the storm.
Two men and a 2-year-old boy were killed Wednesday in Waverly, about 40 miles southeast of Richmond, when a mobile home was destroyed in the storm.
Larry D. Turner, 50; Devine J. Stringfield, 26; and Ivan T. Lewis, 2, died. Lewis’s mother survived the storm but remains hospitalized, state police said, and six more people in the town also suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Larry D. Turner, 50; Devine J. Stringfield, 26; and Ivan T. Lewis, 2, died. Lewis’s mother remains hospitalized, state police said. Six others in the town suffered injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
“It was the most saddest thing I’ve ever seen,” said former Waverly mayor Barbara Gray. “You couldn’t help but shed tears.”
“It was the most saddest thing I’ve ever seen,” said former Waverly mayor Barbara Gray. “You couldn’t help but shed tears.”
In Appomattox County, west of Richmond, a funnel cloud carved out a path of destruction at least 10 miles long Wednesday, injuring seven people and killing one man who was also thrown from his mobile home, state police said. Edward K. Harris, 78, died. His wife and six others were injured.
In Appomattox County, west of Richmond, a funnel cloud carved out a path of destruction at least 10 miles long Wednesday, injuring seven people and killing one man who was also thrown from his mobile home, state police said. Edward K. Harris, 78, died. His wife and six others were injured.
“You had to go see it to understand how devastating it was for those communities,” McAuliffe’s spokesman Brian Coy said on Thursday, after the governor visited three storm-struck towns. He said that McAuliffe promised residents state assistance for rebuilding.
“You had to go see it to understand how devastating it was for those communities,” McAuliffe’s spokesman, Brian Coy, said Thursday, after the governor visited three storm-struck towns. He said that McAuliffe promised residents state assistance for rebuilding.
Residents from the Gulf coast to the Northeast faced flooding, toppled trees and power outages.
States from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast faced flooding, toppled trees and power outages.
Three more people died along the Gulf coast, where the storm system took shape late Tuesday before rumbling up the East Coast. In the center of the country, meanwhile, another system brought snow and blizzard conditions across the Midwest, leaving schools closed and flights canceled.
Three more people died along the Gulf Coast, where the storm system took shape late Tuesday before rumbling up the East Coast. In the center of the country, meanwhile, another system brought snow and blizzard conditions across the Midwest, leaving schools closed and flights canceled.
[Roads closed due to downed power lines, toppled trees]
[Roads closed due to downed power lines, toppled trees]
About 1,200 people in Northern Virginia, Maryland and the District were without power Thursday morning. Strong winds brought down trees on power lines to more than 10,000 homes and businesses in the region.
[Metro’s Franconia-Springfield garage floods]
Around the Washington region, some roads were closed due to downed wires and flooding. High winds uprooted trees in the Chantilly area and gusts as high as 73 mph were recorded in Germantown, officials said.
In Silver Spring, a basement wall collapsed Wednesday evening on a man in the 2400 block of Briggs Road. When the man went to check his sump pump, a cinder-block wall fell and trapped him, said Montgomery County fire department spokesman Pete Piringer.
When firefighters found the man he was under a pile of rubble and suffering from serious injuries. He was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life threatening, Piringer said.
[Thunderstorms depart after delivering strong winds, hail and flooding]
In Waverly, the town’s former mayor said she left her job, 14 miles outside town, just before 3 p.m. Wednesday. Gray said she had no idea that a tornado had struck until she got to Waverly and saw several buildings destroyed.
“They looked like nothing, just rubble. They were just torn up,” said Gray. “The mobile homes were just gone. The laundromat, just gone.”
“Most everybody knows everybody,” Gray said. “Just pray for the town of Waverly.”
A Weather Service Wakefield, Va., also confirmed that a tornado went through Waverly — in Sussex County between Petersburg and Norfolk — between 2:30 p.m. and 2:40 p.m Wednesday.
Luis Rosa, a meteorologist at the Weather Service office in Sterling, Va., said there was also a report of a tornado sighting in the Thornburg area.
Clarence Williams and Julie Zauzmer contributed to this report.
