Relief after big twisters

SUFFOLK -- People in Suffolk picked through twisted debris yesterday and called themselves lucky that no deaths or serious injuries resulted from one of the most destructive tornadoes in recent Virginia history.

"My wife and son are safe, that's all that really matters," said Bob Knott, whose home in the Burnett's Mill subdivision was breached by the storm and filled with leaves and debris. "I can buy a new house."

But the tornado that struck downtown Suffolk on Monday afternoon left a scene of destruction rare in the state: 70 to 100 injuries, about 150 buildings uninhabitable and more than 1,200 homes damaged, a new strip shopping center wrecked, and dozens of vehicles smashed by flying objects, including other vehicles.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine toured the hardest-hit neighborhoods yesterday afternoon with state and local officials and local congressional representatives.

"It was really nothing short of miraculous that no one had been killed or seriously injured," he said.

Kaine said he saw houses that were gone from their foundations.

Kaine complimented the volunteers and local officials for their quick action and said the tour had given him "a real sense of appreciation for how you guys have handled this."

Last night, Kaine declared a statewide state of emergency so that state agencies could respond freely as needed to affected localities.

The Suffolk tornado was the most powerful of seven that hit Virginia Monday, authorities said.

Bob Spieldenner, a spokesman for the state Department of Emergency Management, said 70 to 100 people were injured in Suffolk, none critically. That's lower than the 200 estimated Monday.

"When you look at the pictures, the number of people injured and no fatalities, it's pretty remarkable," Spieldenner said.

One pickup truck was hurled through the brick wall of a medical office building. It sat amid the wreckage yesterday as a broken pipe splashed water over it.

Emergency officials asked displaced residents to be patient while teams of experts checked the hardest-hit neighborhoods for gas leaks and other dangers. City officials said some residents might be able to return home today.

The tornado dropped out of a swirling black sky just after 3 p.m. just north of U.S. 58 and state Route 10. It obliterated the first structure it encountered, the Freedom Square strip mall.

Brenda Williams of Suffolk said she was having her nails done at JK Nail and Spa in the strip mall when the lights went out. "We could see things flying around outside, and we just ran to the rear of the store," she said. "Then the roof fell in."

She lay beneath the rubble until she felt someone about to step on her head, she said. "I called out, 'I'm down here,' and somebody pulled me out."

Her body was covered with bruises and cuts that required several stitches. Her car lay on its top in the parking lot -- one of dozens of smashed vehicles.

"I'm glad the building wasn't made of much, or we all would have been done," she said.

At Sentara Obici Hospital, across the street from the strip mall, Phyllis Stoneburner, vice president of patient care services, saw the tornado coming from her office window. In seconds it roared past, breaking some windows in the hospital but causing no serious damage. Before the night was out, Sentara Obici treated about 70 people, mostly for cuts and scrapes.

Next the tornado veered through the Burnett's Mill and Hillpoint Farms subdivisions, demolishing some homes while leaving adjoining ones untouched. Police evacuated the subdivisions after detecting gas leaks. Continuing leaks are part of the reason residents are not being allowed back into the hardest-hit subdivisions. The neighborhoods were closed yesterday to everyone but search teams using cadaver dogs to hunt for bodies. They found none. Behind the dog teams came teams of building inspectors.

Farther north, the tornado wiped out a convenience store, antique shop and two homes in the small community of Driver.

Early evidence indicates the Suffolk tornado produced winds of about 160 mph, said Bill Sammler, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

That would make it the strongest tornado to hit Virginia since the 1993 twister that devastated parts of Petersburg and Colonial Heights, killing four.

The Suffolk tornado traveled about 10 miles -- it was a quarter-mile wide at its widest -- and moved mainly on the ground, without hopping, at about 40 mph, Sammler said.

"We are lucky," Suffolk Mayor Linda Johnson told reporters. "It could have been a lot worse. We have no one to thank but God."

Fire Chief Mark Outlaw said Suffolk also could thank the fact that the tornado struck at a time when many residents of the hardest-hit areas were at work.
Contact Bill Geroux at (757) 498-2820 or bgeroux@timesdispatch.com.

Staff writer Rex Springston contributed to this report.