Three tornadoes ripped through the US state of Virginia, with one hop-scotching across the southeastern part of the state and leaving behind a 40km trail of smashed homes, tossed cars and more than 200 injured residents.
The twister in this city outside Norfolk cut a fickle, zig-zagging path through neighborhoods, obliterating some homes and spraying splintered wood across lawns while leaving those standing just a few meters away untouched.
Buses took residents to safety, steering clear of downed power lines, tree limbs and a confetti of debris.
Insulation, wiring and twisted metal hung from the front of a mall that was stripped bare of its facing. At another store, the tin roof was rolled up like a sardine can. Some of the cars and sport utility vehicles in the parking lot laid 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.
Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine declared a state of emergency for the areas of southeastern Virginia struck by the twisters.
The National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes struck Suffolk, Colonial Heights and Brunswick County. Meteorologist Bryan Jackson described Suffolk’s as a “major tornado.”
Jackson said the Brunswick County tornado was estimated at 138kph to 177kph and cut a 275m path of destruction.
The first tornado touched down around 1pm on Monday in Brunswick County, said Mike Rusnak, a weather service meteorologist in Wakefield. The second struck Colonial Heights around 3:40pm, he said.
The third touched down multiple times between 4:30pm and 5pm and is believed to have caused damage over a 40km path from Suffolk to Norfolk, Rusnak said.
At least 200 people were injured in Suffolk and 18 others were injured in Colonial Heights, south of Richmond, said Bob Spieldenner from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
In Colonial Heights, the storm overturned cars and damaged buildings in the Southpark Mall area.
Suffolk city spokeswoman Dana Woodson said the areas around Sentara Obici Hospital and in Driver community were hardest hit. The hospital was damaged but still able to treat patients.
Several of Gregory Parker’s businesses and his pre-Civil War-era home in Driver were damaged.
The porch was blown off his Arthur’s General Store. At another store he owns, the tin roof was rolled up like a sardine can. The facade of his home collapsed and the windows were blown out. Inside, furniture was tossed about.
“I hate to say it sounded like a train, but that’s the truth,” Parker said.
His wife, Ellise, rode out the storm in the first-floor bathroom of another antique store. The building lost its second story.
At King’s Fork High School, about 65 people took shelter for the night. Many of them watched coverage of the storms on television as volunteers set up cots in the gymnasium.
Chris Jones, a former Suffolk mayor, said area residents stopped by the high school throughout the night to donate bottled water, toothpaste, deodorant and other needed items.
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