Virginia Beach is reeling from a tornado that swept through the coastal town on Sunday night, destroying as many as 100 homes.
Firefighters and cleanup crews were in the street clearing debris consisting of large fallen trees and large sections of people’s homes, including entire roofs.
Powerline workers were also on hand, clearing roads from fallen pylons and tending to damaged transmission lines to restore power to hundreds of homes.
Virginia Natural Gas also visited homes with gas leaks, and Dominion Power, the local power company headquartered in Richmond, responded with crews.
The tornado struck the city’s Great Neck area just before 6 p.m. Sunday and was so severe that the city declared a state of emergency.
As many as 100 homes in Virginia Beach were destroyed by the tornado. Pictured is an aerial view of homes in the Great Neck area
Firefighters and cleanup crews were in the street clearing debris consisting of large fallen trees and huge sections of people’s houses
The National Weather Service announced Monday morning that the cyclone was an EF-3 tornado, meaning it was carrying winds between 136 and 165 mph.
The highest rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale is an EF-5.
Fort Story, which is operated by the US Navy, reported tornado damage and said it was assessing the aftermath.
The base said 95 percent of its power has been restored.
“We are very fortunate that there were no injuries from the storm,” said Captain Michael Witherspoon told the Virginian pilotthe installation commander.
“Our teams are working with our local partners to assess the situation and return to normal operation as soon as possible.”
The tornado struck the city’s Great Neck area just before 6 p.m. Sunday and was so intense that the city declared a local state of emergency
Due to road closures, three schools in Virginia Beach – Cox High School, Great Neck Middle School and John B. Dey Elementary School – did not open Monday
The Virginia Beach Fire Department was responding to “calls for major storm damage to multiple homes,” it said on Twitter
A tree broken in half by Sunday’s tornado has slid into the roof of a home
Several trees collapsed on the front lawn of a Virginia Beach home
The tornado led to the closure of three schools on Monday due to road closures, officials said.
“Great Neck Recreation Center, 2521 Shorehaven Drive, will be closed to the general public tomorrow, May 1, and will continue to serve exclusively residents affected by the storm,” the city wrote via an update on its website.
It also said residents who have trees entirely on their property should take care of them themselves.
“Public Works recommends residents talk to their insurance company about coverage and deductibles before requesting quotes or contracting with private tree removal companies,” the city wrote.
“If residents use a private tree removal service, the insured contractor is also responsible for removing the debris,” it added.
Residents were told by city officials that any trees that had fallen and were completely on their property would be their responsibility to deal with them
The National Weather Service announced Monday morning that the cyclone was an EF-3 tornado
More than 14,000 homes had power outages during the day, according to an online power outage map, but only 400 were down by Monday morning.
The Virginia Beach Fire Department was responding to “calls for major storm damage to multiple homes,” it said on Twitter.
According to a spokesman for the city, several boats broke off their moorings on Sunday night, overturned or were damaged.
It clarified that it was working with the US Coast Guard and the Port of Virginia Maritime Incident Response team to recover the boats.
Cox High School, Great Neck Middle School and John B. Dey Elementary School were the three schools closed Monday.
The third day of the Something in the Water festival, which was scheduled for Sunday evening, was canceled due to the tornado.