Tornadoes in Va., Fla.; flooding in other areas
Several states suffer damage from major weekend storms
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va – Officials in Virginia, Maine, and Florida are assessing damage Monday from major storms over the weekend, including some that caused power outages and wrecked homes.
The city of Virginia Beach declared a state of emergency after a tornado moved through the area and damaged dozens of homes, downed trees and caused gas leaks.
Between 50 and 100 homes were damaged after the tornado touched down around about 6 p.m., city officials said in a statement Sunday. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The National Weather Service’s Wakefield, Virginia, office confirmed the tornado based on “debris signature on radar, damage reports, and videos of the storm.” The agency said in a tweet Monday that a crew was surveying the damage to determine the rating, or severity, of the tornado.
One family escaped injuries by reacting to a weather alert that came less than a minute before the tornado hit.
Lori Camper and her visiting daughter looked out the window and saw the trees bending in the wind and ran. The Campers and their two dogs ran into a stairwell – the only place without windows.
“Then all the windows blew out in the kitchen and sucked everything out of the kitchen and a tree fell through the roof,” Camper said. “And now one side of the house is leaning.”
Virginia Beach’s weekend storms are generally associated with the same large-scale area of low pressure over the Great Lakes, NWS Meteorologist Eric Seymour said by telephone.
The agency confirmed another tornado over the weekend in Florida in a weekend filled with hazardous weather across the U.S.
In Maine, heavy rain and powerful wind gusts knocked out power for more than 50,000 homes and businesses on Monday morning. Rainfall approaching 5 inches led to flood warnings on several rivers in parts of southern Maine.