More Than 200 Hurt In Va. Tornadoes

State Of Emergency Declared After 3 Twisters Tear Through Buildings, Destroy Homes

(CBS/AP)  Three tornadoes ripped through Virginia on Monday, with one hop-scotching across the southeastern part of the state and leaving behind a 25-mile trail of gutted homes and tossed cars. At least 200 people were injured.

Residents of some of the hardest hit neighborhoods in this town outside Norfolk were forced to evacuate their homes, with buses taking them to nearby shelters. Police closed roads, steering people away from streets with downed power lines.

Fallen trees and power cables covered the streets in a section of the city. A vending machine was tilted on its side, leaning up against a pile of rubble that had been the general store in a small shopping district.

"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.

Gov. Timothy M. 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 86 mph to 110 mph, and cut a 300-yard path of destruction.

The first tornado touched down around 1 p.m. in Brunswick County, said Mike Rusnak, a weather service meteorologist in Wakefield. The second struck Colonial Heights around 3:40 p.m., he said.

The third touched down multiple times, between 4:30 to 5 p.m., and is believed to have caused damage over a 25-mile path from Suffolk to Norfolk, Rusnak said.

At least 200 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 area around Sentara Obici Hospital and in the community of Driver, located within the city, were hardest hit. The hospital was damaged but still able to treat patients.

Insulation, wiring and twisted metal hung from the front of a strip mall in Suffolk that was stripped bare of its facing. Cars and SUVs in the parking lot outside lay strewn about, some lying on top of others.

Countless witnesses shuddered at their brief but violent brush with Mother Nature.

"All the glass and everything started going and you could see cars flippin'," Terrance Brunson told CBS News.

"He said get down," Glenna Brunson said, "and I got down and all the windows just blew out."

Several of Gregory A. Parker's businesses and his pre-Civil War-era home in Driver were damaged in the tornado.

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 an antique store. The building lost its second story. His brother, Craig S. Parker, owns the general store that sells hunting and fishing supplies.

Parker is spending the night with his sister, who lives nearby.

"I don't even think a leaf blew off at her house. That's how tornadoes are," he said.

CBS News correspondent Andrea Stassou reported people tearing through the rubble in search of survivors.

"That building is demolished and we just start ripping stuff out looking for people," said Andrew Currence. "First we initially saw one lady upside down and as I was digging in a different area to try to get to her, another lady's hand popped out and startled me."

Sentara hospital spokesman Dale Gauding said about 60 injured people were being treated there, and he expected most to be released.

"We have lots of cuts and bruises" and arm and leg injuries, he said. The hospital's windows were cracked, apparently by debris from a damaged shopping center across the street.

Southside Regional Medical Center treated one storm victim with minor injuries and was poised to receive more, hospital spokeswoman Terry Tysinger said.

Property damage also was reported in Brunswick County, one of several localities where the weather service had issued a tornado warning. Sgt. Michelle Cotten of the Virginia State Police said a twister destroyed two homes. Trees and power lines were down, and some flooding was reported.

About 18,000 Virginia Dominion Power customers were without service, mostly in the Northern Neck.

Laura Southard, a state emergency management spokeswoman, said the damage assessment will be done Tuesday.

[gce65]

God is punishing you for your support of George W Bush.

[equalsides]

wow...that was ignorant

[nordeck52]

To gce65,

Be silent, you ignorant buffoon.

Now then... to comment about the story itself. This is very bizarre. Tornadoes that close to the coast? I wonder if la Nina had anything to do with this... it''s possible.

[idnnsg]

When Hurricane Katrina took out New Orleans, more than one "upstanding" "Christian" republican figurehead said THAT was God punishing New Orleans for it''s "sinful ways". It appears that gce65 was applying the same standard to this event, so what he said was entirely appropriate sarcasm, not ignorance or buffoonery.

[formrusmcsgt]

Pat Robertson will be claiming any minute now that the tornadoes were sent because not enough Virginians were ponying-up to the 700 Club......

[fabrat1]

My Nephew was stationed kinda close to that area. He''s in the Navy thank goodness he''s already shipped out and was not in the area. I just can''t feature what it would be like to have 95% of my town gone in just minutes. God bless them all!!

[Renegade.Rivers]

While here in Illinois we are expecting frost tonight. The weather has been crazy this year. Between the winds, and the earthquakes here in Illinois, I have had nearly $20,000 in damages since the first of the year. No doubt my insurance rates will go up again.

I do wish those in Virgina the very best.

[wlmrtpatriot]

Thank you for all the weather reports. I feel for your communities both in Chicago and Virginia.

[michellem99-2009]

This is Mum Earth,
She is pissed at
her children abusing her

I hope the people get the help they truly need, fabrat1 hope yer kin is alright..Yer nephew be on USS Carl Vinson..she used to be station here in wa state and she was in a movie..She is stationed at Newport News..
It not God who caused ..the weather did..
They don''t need that asre poking his person there..

[tbweb]

U.S. Weather patterns are out of sync and unpredictable in the extreme, if you own a home and don''t have disaster insurance in addition to your normal insurance, you are rolling the dice and the odds are not in your favor! Buy disaster insurance for your investment even if you can''t afford it!

[nonayabiness]

libagenda -

Actually in VA we get more and more tornadoes every year. While most are not the news-making ones of the mid-west, I have definitely seen a huge increase in the number of reported tornadoes over the years.

Several years ago, one came through my neighborhood, severely damaging a co-workers house 2 blocks away. A few years later, one came by my boyfriend''s area and blew up a house 3 doors down from him, killing a woman and her newborn. Another was reportedly going towards one of my client''s neighborhood according to the news. I called them to tell them to take cover, in case they didn''t have power or radio. Turned out they had no idea it was coming. They were ok.

[nonayabiness]

gce65

Just so you know, because of what President Bush has done during his presidency, Virginia voted out every (I believe, every) single Republican running for re-election over the past few years.

[nonayabiness]

You know, I work not too far from where some of these tornadoes hit. Actually, quite a few people commute from these localities to the area where I work. I was surprised to have NO IDEA this was going on until I heard a traffic report on the way home from work.

It pains me to think I might have a child in day-care in that area, or children in school, and not have a clue about how bad the weather was. We need a better, broader warning system. This type of information would be a good use of pop-up software that can''t be blocked, like the radio emergency announcements. There are enough computer jockeys out there (like me) that word would get around very quickly about a potential situation as this.

Any by the way, we had 3 confirmed tornados in central Virginia last week too.

[rob416]

First, my thoughts are with all those injured and/or had property damage. Certainly this makes the case for having a NOAA Weather Radio. Also, getting severe weather alerts on PC''s and laptops from such services as the Weather Bug is not a bad idea. Their software can be downloaded for free and no charge for the alerts.

Another way of getting alerts on the go is by subscribing to a service where text messages are sent to cell phones The only problem with that while traveling there is no current way to determine locations at a given time in order to get alerts. Locations are set when signing up for the service. Perhaps when arriving at a specific location they can be changed.

The only other possibilty is an extra service offered by portable GPS manufacturers, where there is a monthly fee, that would allow alerts to be sent to the location one is at. In this case the GPS would use their bluetooth feature in connection with the cell phone. I''m not sure which manufacturers have this or if I''m correct about how it works.

Regardless, it is important to be kept informed about severe weather Lives are saved when people are informed.

[nonayabiness]

rob416

Thanks for your post! My boyfriend and I years ago bought NOAA radios, after a house was imploded by a tornado a few doors down from him. (He''s no longer my boyfriend and I have since married.) But, we found we didn''t keep them on all day ''just in case.'' We would turn them on when we suspected potential bad weather.

Well, today, where I work, we had some rain and wind, but nothing would have alerted me to turn on my NOAA radio. Turns out at least one of the tornadoes was only 15 minutes away, well within commuting distance. I realize there are many who can''t have radios on at work all day, or sit around and watch TV, and I am one of them.

However, I was suggesting another avenue for getting word out beyond the immediate vicinity of danger, so concerned parents, family members and commuters can know if thier locality and/or property is at risk. Your other suggestions are great also. Perhaps a statewide text or cell alert along with pop-ups is in order to keep people best informed in today''s technology age. I would support that.

[nonayabiness]

libagenda

Furthermore, I want to thank you for your sentiments. It''s looking like a rough year in our state, with tornadoes increasing every year, historic flooding continuing from the past few years, and personally, myself and my younger sister went to Virginia Tech, so we were quite personally affected by the massacre there. In addition, our father died on that day as well. He never knew his first grandchild was on his way. My husband''s father died 3 weeks before he was born, and because he had Alzheimer''s, he never knew or really understood a grandson was coming either. So, in one year, both our son''s grandfathers passed away, neither with the knowledge of their grandbaby.

[nonayabiness]

renrivers

Thank you for your sentiments. From the news reports I got, 200 people were injured, and there was one death, however they say that death was not caused by the tornadoes. Don''t know how they can assess that. Perhaps someone close by to the weather had a heart attack or something, and perhaps it can''t be directly attributed, I don''t know.

We had 3 tornadoes last week and Sunday a plane crashed into a house in my locality, killing the two passengers, but sparing the life of a young lady inside the house at the time of impact.

So, overall, with all this tragedy, and only 3 deaths to report, one perhaps unrelated, maybe coincidental, for the most part we have been lucky thus far with these tragedies to lose so few fellow citizens.

[erpcat]

rev wright caused it, damming US?????????????????

[janiet3]

From here in Arkansas, we can definitely sympathize with all of you in Virginia. It is something we are all too aware of and know the horrible devastation and how it ruins and takes lives.

Please know you have our best wishes in your efforts to recover and begin again. Take heart, keep the faith, and remember that there are those who care about you.

[bjrober]

MY THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH ALL OF YOU
I have three grandchildren who live in Portsmouth,
Chesapeake, and one at JMU, my eldest grandson''s girlfriend works for the City of Suffolk, but thank God they are all okay. My hometown of Henderson, Ky has been having small earthquakes for over three weeks

[cats0791]

Once again, here we are...People of the world, dealing with a tragedy...some people are genuine... with heartfelt sympathies... and there are the rest of you that make the rest of us not want to even respond to blogs like this... That take every opportunity to force your political and religious opinions on the rest of us that are struggling with the aftermath of disaster. My 3 year old grandbaby was in Suffolk when that tornado hit...yet here we are again... anonymous people with screen names arguing over nonsense when people are hurt, some could be dead or dying....Opinions are like a**holes... everyone has one...lets try keeping ours to ourselves....and focusing on the real issues at hand...Thank you to all of the SINCERE people for your honest prayers and concerns...

[michellem99-2009]

Dear
I hope ye get the help ye need. I would rather we take care of our oun and forgive me than a war over seas..I was taught charity starts at home first. My friend told me about this as he use to live there years ago. Yes the weather has gotten bad..I can pray but what ye need is help in ways prayer can''t. Help in finding yer kin,cleaning up the mess put yer lived back together. I live in Seattle and am legally blind..Dad taught us to think of others.