THANKFUL IT WAS NO WORSE — Mary Helen Gravitt looks at her family home

which had its front porch ripped off by high tornado winds on Monday.

The tornado hit several homes in the community shortly after 1 p.m.

(Danny Lamberth photo)

 

"We're all just so thankful that things were no worse and nobody was hurt," said Mary Helen Gravitt whose home was badly damaged Monday as a tornado struck the Virgilina community about 1:15 p.m. Gravitt said the high winds moved in so quickly she didn't have time to get scared, but she was quick to head for the basement of the house. And when she came out she found that the front porch of her home was gone and a garage located about 150 feet from the house was leveled. On Wednesday she laughed, saying that a repair service was coming out to

inspect her car which had been in the garage and which she hadn't been able to move because of the debris on it and around it. Her brother had a tree fall across his house. "I can tell you it was a humbling experience. As soon as I saw that my brother and his wife, William and Cheryl Wilkins, who live next door

were okay, we all felt that we had been lucky. It all happened so fast, I hadn't heard any warnings of storms."

Gravitt was high in her praise of Dominion Power workers who, she said, had five or six trucks in the area in no time and "we had power restored to anything that worked before nightfall." She also had the highest praise for members of the Virgilina Fire Department who were on the scene within minutes, doing any and everything they could to help.

According to local emergency services coordinator Allen Bober, members of the National Weather Service met with him for most of the day Tuesday, explaining that what hit the community was an ED-1 tornado which generally has winds of 86-109 miles per hour. He said the width of the storm's path covered some 240 yards, inflicting major damages to two homes on Route 96 and minor damages to another. Also two houses on Gills Mountain Road suffered minor damages with the top of a tree ripping off gutters on one and some siding being ripped off another.

The total estimate of damages in the area was set at about $500,000. That, of course, did not account for the numerous downed trees, broken limbs and debris clean-up that will be needed. County Supervisor Lottie T. Nunn, who was at home recovering from medical treatment, said she heard a "roaring noise" and went to look

out her front storm door. "It was really dark and I could see the bark blowing off trees." The path of the wind missed her house and "in the blink of an eye it was all over," Nunn said. Gravitt said she has spent most of the past two days talking with insurance adjusters and contractors about repairs to her home. "?But we're okay; we really have everything we need and we're just thankful that no one was hurt." Ginger Weaver of the local American Red Cross said her agency stands ready to help the victims of the storn in any way they can. "If the damage had included many families in need of shelter, feeding, etc., after the first 72 hours, National Red Cross assistance  would cover

that as they are presently doing in Suffolk, and surrounding areas that were heavily affected.  Sheltering, feeding, counseling, and now the Service Centers are opening cases to provide food, clothing and other immediate necessities for those going into apartments and temporary living spaces until home repair, etc. can be done.  FEMA also sets up

in these service centers (shared service centers to better service victims in more areas of need), Weaver said.

Further eastward the twisters seemed to have gotten their start in Brunswick County where several mobile homes in the town were torn up and stately groves of old oak trees were uprooted. A powerful tornado was reported in Colonial Heights, where shoppers at the Southpark Mall were rattled by the sounds of roofs giving way and steel being twisted in the path of the storm. One tornado that ripped through Suffolk was rated as "a strong ED3," meaning its winds hit speeds of between 136-165 miles per hour. Suffolk officials said 145 homes were declared

uninhabitable by the storms and 75 residents were injured. Governor Tim Kaine toured the damaged area on Tuesday, assessing the damages of the Monday storm.