Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 12, 1990 TAG: 9007120564
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium
"It was some of the worst lightning I've ever seen," Dewey Walston, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Norfolk, said of Wednesday night's storm.
The torrential rainfall left water up to 4 feet deep in some parts of the city, flooding streets and stranding motorists whose cars stalled in the high water.
Despite the rare intensity of the storm, there were no reports of injuries.
During the height of the storm, fire crews from the resort city responded to more than 250 calls in four hours, most of them believed to be fires sparked by lightning.
"We're having trouble finding [firefighting] equipment because there is so much going," a police supervisor said at 10 p.m. as call after call came in about homes hit by lightning.
Walston said the copious amounts of rain were produced by a storm system that settled over the area.
"It's really unusual to have storms this severe just stall like this," he said.
Weather observers reported between 5 and 8.9 inches of rain late Wednesday night, Walston said. Virginia Beach averages about 5 inches of rain per month, he said.
The National Lightning Detection Network based at the State University of New York recorded 2,400 lightning strikes an hour in Virginia Beach and eastern Chesapeake. Normally, storms generate about 240 bolts an hour in the area.
Mike Rorer of Virginia Beach said a bolt of lightning hit a neighbor's home about 8:30 p.m.
"After I heard it hit, we went outside to see what was going on," Rorer said. "It hit this row house and the northwest corner was knocked off. It knocked out the trim and part of the shingles and left it sort of open . . . just like a big shell came through."
Bernice Virginius was hopeful the torrential rains would keep the fire at a next-door neighbor's house from spreading to her home.
"The firemen are next door trying to contain it to keep it from popping over here, but I can smell smoke, so I'm on my way to the attic" to check it, she said. "I think it's raining so hard we're safe."
In addition to the lightning, residents also had to deal with impassable streets and flooded houses.
"It's coming through my home like a gusher," Roosevelt Mitchell said. "It's coming through the roof and windows. It's a foot deep in the garage. It's amazing."
Lightning knocked out power to more than 17,700 utility customers in the region, said Fred Ellis, a Virginia Power spokesman.
"We're opening all of our offices and bringing in extra crews," Ellis said at 10:45 p.m.
Earlier Wednesday, a thunderstorm accompanied by high winds, lightning and hail blew the steeple off a Culpeper County church and disrupted electrical service to about 7,700 residents.
The storm hit about 3 p.m., knocking the steeple from atop St. Stephen's Church and downing power lines and trees. No injuries were reported.
by CNB