VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Despite Wednesday’s off-and-on rain showers, crews were hard at work cleaning up debris in the Broad Bay and Chelsea neighborhoods in northern Virginia Beach.
Dodging cranes and other heavy machinery used for tree trimming, insurance adjustors walked the streets of Haversham Close, assessing the damage after an EF-3 tornado ripped through Sunday evening.
Tim Thornton grew up in the neighborhood and was at his parents’ house eating dinner Sunday when the tornado came through without much warning.
“Our family kind of ignored the warning signs and even went to the front of the house to figure out what all the noise was,” Thornton described. “Just wasn’t a very smart thing to do. So, I know now when I’m getting one of those warnings that I’m for sure going to be taking it a lot more seriously.”
Residents described getting an alert moments before the destruction was at their door.
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Thornton walked the neighborhood with News 3 reporter Angela Bohon, pointing out a boat that he said had been lifted from a driveway as well as a garage door that had been ripped off his friend’s home and now sits tangled in a tree.
“Not having a single person hurt in any of this, at least with any life-threatening injuries is absolutely just a miracle all on its own,” Thornton said.
Virginia Beach Police continue to block off some lanes on Great Neck Road to assist crews in getting in and out of the neighborhood and to keep traffic on the side streets at a minimum.
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