NORFOLK, Va. — A funnel cloud spotted Tuesday evening in Surry County appeared to develop into a waterspout along the James River before the storm system moved southeast into Norfolk, leaving behind tree damage and rattled nerves in the Ocean View neighborhood.
Video taken in Surry County looking toward Jamestown shows the funnel cloud forming Tuesday evening.
As the system moved southeast, it appears to have formed into a waterspout along the James River.
A picture taken from Suffolk and images from Newport News show the waterspout's progression before the system continued into the Ocean View area of Norfolk, which also saw a tornado warning.
News 3 meteorologist Myles Henderson said the National Weather Service issues warnings for waterspouts — which is why so many residents received alerts.
"There is nothing stopping that waterspout from moving over land. It's going to follow whatever the movement of the storm is, just like any other tornado would do. That's why they need to be taken just as seriously as a tornado was, which is why we had warnings popping up last night," Henderson said.
Chelsea Chandler, who lives in Ocean View, rode out the storm on a lower level of her apartment building under a staircase.
"I was also doing my breathing exercises like your therapist teaches you to, so you don't have a full blown panic attack during it," Chandler said.
Chandler described the experience as "really scary" but said she worked through her emotions during the storm.
"You could definitely hear that the weather was getting more angry than usual," Chandler said.
In West Ocean View, the storm split a tree, causing part of it to crash down onto two cars. The man living at one of the homes where it happened told News 3 off camera the tree was pretty rotted. He said crews cleaned it up quickly.
When the storm passed, Chandler said the relief was immediate.
"I felt relief and happy that we didn't get hit and that I didn't have to be scared anymore about it," Chandler said.
There were only a handful of storm damage reports across the area, but the storm left a lasting impression — both in the images it produced and in its intensity.
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