Virginia Beach Hit by Destructive Tornado; 100 Homes Damaged
Tags: Virginia Beach, Tornado, Natural Disaster, Emergency, Damage
A state of emergency was declared in Virginia Beach on Sunday evening after a tornado touched down in the Great Neck area, causing widespread damage. The National Weather Service rated the tornado an EF3, with winds up to 45 mph. City officials initially reported that 50 to 100 homes were damaged, but that number was later updated to more than 100.
Residents of the affected area described the tornado as a sudden and terrifying event. Lori Camper, a resident of the area, said the whole thing lasted only 10 seconds. Her family hunkered down in a stairwell inside her home, but the windows in the kitchen blew out, and a tree fell through the roof. "Now one side of the house is leaning," she said.
Thankfully, no injuries were reported, and Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer acknowledged that the city was fortunate given the magnitude of the storm. "It could have been worse," he told the Virginia Pilot.
Images from the area showed roofs ripped off large brick homes and dozens of trees toppled, some of them onto cars. Virginia Beach firefighters said they were responding to "major storm damage" and "multiple homes with gas leaks." Phillip McGowan, a local resident, compared the scene to something out of a disaster movie. "Seeing trees down wasn't too rare, but when you start seeing cars flipped over and the roofs of houses completely flipped off, that's something else," he said.
This is the second tornado to cause damage in the United States over the weekend. On Saturday, a tornado in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, flipped vehicles and caused damage to homes. As climate change continues to create more extreme weather events, it is crucial that we take steps to prepare for and mitigate the impact of natural disasters. In the meantime, our thoughts are with those affected by this devastating tornado in Virginia Beach.
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