Last night when my wife and I got home there were tornado warnings for the Tappahannock area, so my daughter and grandchildren came over and they all went down into the basement while I stayed upstairs. I just laughed it off, because every time there's a thunder storm it seems like there are "tornado warnings." The lightning and strong winds were normal. When the quarter-size hail started coming down, I thought about how the people in the midwest always say there was big hail before the tornado struck. I joined my family in the basement.
Over the next two hours we followed the tornado's tracking as we listened on the radio ( I unplug my TV and expensive electronic equipment during storms). We were lucky, as it passed us by about a mile. There were constant updates on the radio, so were soon learned that this was indeed a devastating tornado. People were calling in during the storm saying that their or their neighbors' home was demolished. At that point, there were four homes confirmed as gone. One of the main bridges heading into town was unpassable. Someone we knew that was listening on a scanner was texting us updates, so we got some names and knew that Paul and Donna, a couple we know, and lifelong residents, had lost everything. They were both taken to the hospital, Donna with a broken leg.
It wasn't until the following morning that we found out the full extent of the tornado's wrath. Over 30 buildings damaged, 15 completely destroyed. Over two dozen injuries. I had to go 15 miles out my way to get to work because all three roads that I would normally take were closed, so that emergency crews and the national guard could work without hindrance. One reporter that was allowed in said that when he looked around he couldn't believe that anyone could have survived; unfortunately, some of the injuries are indeed life-threatening.
I also learned that another friend also lost his home, completely demolished. I haven't been able to find out about he and his wife's condition. There was a long trail that the tornado followed, with several areas being hit, but the people I know are in the same sub-division. I still have a lot there, in between the two that I mentioned, so apparently the tornado went right over that lot. I was a building contractor, and I would build a house, living there as I had it on the market, then build another. I count myself as very lucky, first because the tornado missed my house, and second, because if not for the bad housing market, I would have sold the house I'm in now, and would have built another right on that lot!
Now all the residents of Tappahannock and Essex County are praying for the injured and those who lost their homes.
Over the next two hours we followed the tornado's tracking as we listened on the radio ( I unplug my TV and expensive electronic equipment during storms). We were lucky, as it passed us by about a mile. There were constant updates on the radio, so were soon learned that this was indeed a devastating tornado. People were calling in during the storm saying that their or their neighbors' home was demolished. At that point, there were four homes confirmed as gone. One of the main bridges heading into town was unpassable. Someone we knew that was listening on a scanner was texting us updates, so we got some names and knew that Paul and Donna, a couple we know, and lifelong residents, had lost everything. They were both taken to the hospital, Donna with a broken leg.
It wasn't until the following morning that we found out the full extent of the tornado's wrath. Over 30 buildings damaged, 15 completely destroyed. Over two dozen injuries. I had to go 15 miles out my way to get to work because all three roads that I would normally take were closed, so that emergency crews and the national guard could work without hindrance. One reporter that was allowed in said that when he looked around he couldn't believe that anyone could have survived; unfortunately, some of the injuries are indeed life-threatening.
I also learned that another friend also lost his home, completely demolished. I haven't been able to find out about he and his wife's condition. There was a long trail that the tornado followed, with several areas being hit, but the people I know are in the same sub-division. I still have a lot there, in between the two that I mentioned, so apparently the tornado went right over that lot. I was a building contractor, and I would build a house, living there as I had it on the market, then build another. I count myself as very lucky, first because the tornado missed my house, and second, because if not for the bad housing market, I would have sold the house I'm in now, and would have built another right on that lot!
Now all the residents of Tappahannock and Essex County are praying for the injured and those who lost their homes.
