Thunderstorms have developed across the northern half of VA this afternoon. The strongest storm moved across the Northern Neck and produced quarter-sized hail and damaging winds. We've received reports from Lancaster County and Essex County that many trees are down and that some roads are shut down.
Severe storms will be possible across the entire area for the rest of this afternoon and evening.
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This afternoon, we went to Capn Tom's in Bertrand on River Rd/Rt. 354 (Lancaster County, Northern Neck, VA) to pick up some steamed crabs; when we left, some serious clouds were moving in. We left and about 2 miles down the 2-lane road, it started raining so hard, we couldn't see where we were going. There was a small car in front of us and a pick-up truck behind us. My husband decided we needed to get off of the main road asap ~ he was going to turn at the next opportunity ~ the car in front of us did as well, as did the truck. We couldn't see where we were going ~ my husband saw two white fences that looked like they were marking a driveway...he pulled in about 50 ft. into the driveway, but not close to the house ~ the car and truck kept going down the road. Then, the storm hit; leaves, branches and debris started flying by our SUV; then the quarter sized hail started and I thought it would never stop. I was so frightened, I just laid down and started praying ~ I have never been so frightened in all my life. My husband kept saying, it's going to be allright, over and over. The beating of the hail was so loud, we couldn't hear anything else ~ our SUV, which is quite heavy, was being moved by the winds ~ it was very frightening! When all finally got quiet, and it was just raining, we looked around.........the house we were sitting in front of had lost it's roof and a glassed-in Florida room on the back of the house ~ and the road was totally full of downed trees, debris and power poles and the electrical lines were down. We couldn't budge. My husband went to the house to make sure the people were OK ~ only the lady of the house was home and she was fine. Then we started walking up the road.....the car and truck that we were initially traveling with were both crushed by falling trees and the people were trapped in their vehicles. The local fire dept. in Ottoman, Lancaster Co. was having a clean up today, so they were close to the scene and arrived very quickly after we called 911. Unfortunately, due to some of the massive trees that were downed, they weren't able get to the people trapped in their vehicles as quickly as they would've liked. My white SUV was literally green with teeny tiny pieces of torn leaves. It was about an hour before we could get out and the ambulances were still trying to navigate through what looked like a total disaster.
My husband and I agreed, if it was not a tornado, we certainly do not EVER want to see one!
Shannon - I'm glad to hear that you and your husband are doing alright. There was strong rotation in that storm, but we will not know for sure until the National Weather Service surveys the damage.
Thanks for sharing your story.
The previous post is from Aaron, by the way :)
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