Virginia hit by three twisters in a row

WEARY residents and business owners in Suffolk, Virginia returned to what was left of their homes and livelihoods yesterday after three tornadoes smashed houses, piled cars on each other and injured more than 200 people.

One twister cut a zigzagging path 40km long through residential areas, obliterating some homes in sprays of splintered lumber, and leaving others just a few feet away untouched.

Search teams with dogs found no sign of death or any additional injured victims, Suffolk city fire chief Mark Outlaw said.

“The only thing I can say is we were watched over and blessed,” Mr Outlaw said.

Most home and business owners were prevented from returning to affected areas until officials could assess the damage. It wasn’t clear when they could return.

Brenda Williams, 43, returned yesterday to the shopping centre where she was buried beneath a collapsed ceiling during the storm. She was pulled to safety by a stranger.

“I’m not lucky, I’m blessed,” said Ms Williams, who had a 2-inch gash stitched above her left eyebrow and stitches on her right forearm. “I’m fine. I’m in the land of the living.”

Several roads were closed and traffic was backed-up leading into downtown Suffolk, a city of approximately 80,000 outside Norfolk.

Of the 200 injured, only six were listed as critical and six as serious.

Officials said 125 homes and 15 buildings were uninhabitable.

Governor Timothy M Kaine declared a state of emergency. “It’s kind of amazing there were not more significant injuries,” he said in an interview with WTOP Radio in Washington. He said he would ask President Bush for a disaster declaration.

Jennifer Haines and her two young girls hid in a cubbyhole in her house as the tornado hit about three blocks away.

“It sounded like someone shuffling a giant deck of cards or a herd of wild animals. You could feel the whole house shaking,” Ms Haines said.

“It was so scary I felt like I was having a heart attack,” she said.

Keith Godwin and his wife and two kids took shelter in their bathroom after he looked out a window and saw one of the funnel clouds.

The Godwins’ home is untouched except for some debris, as are the rest of those on their side of the street. But houses across the street were badly damaged, including two completely wiped off their foundations and one tossed on top of another home.

The National Weather Service confirmed twisters struck Suffolk, Brunswick County, about 90km west, and Colonial Heights, about 90km northwest. Meteorologist Bryan Jackson described Suffolk’s as a “major tornado.”