Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 7, 1993 TAG: 9308090228
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: From The Associated Press and Staff Reports
DATELINE: PETERSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The storm devastated this economically depressed city's most precious quarter, known as Old Town Petersburg, which has several Civil War-era buildings that withstood Union troop barrages in 1864-65.
Policeman M.L. Clarke said "one large tornado" touched down about 1:30 p.m. at the Southpark shopping mall just outside the city limits in Colonial Heights.
Three people inside the mall's Wal-Mart store were killed, including one who died at a hospital Friday night, authorities said. Two people in Colonial Heights were still unaccounted for late Friday, and authorities searched door-to-door through the area.
Authorities said 148 people were sent to area hospitals with various injuries, which included broken bones and head and neck problems. Colonial Heights police said 119 people inside the store were injured.
The tornado touched down about 1:30 p.m. near the Southpark shopping mall just outside the city limits and cut a swath through the discount store.
Scott Farley, 22, of Prince George County, could see the funnel cloud hit from where he works at a U-Haul rental and storage center across I-95 from Southpark Mall. "It was just total destruction," he said. "It sounded like a runaway train." Pointing to the remains of a nearby 35-foot boat, Farley said, "It picked that up and it hovered in the air for about 10 seconds."
The parking lot outside the U-Haul center was covered with pieces from a 40-by-60-foot section of aluminum roof that Farley said came from the Coyne Textile Services Building on the other side of I-95.
As the twister crossed the James River to the north of Colonial Heights, it threw up a wall of wind and water that knocked down two tractor trailers on the I-295 bridge, authorities said. A third truck collided with the first two, and two smaller trucks were flipped over by the wind about 1:45 a.m.
High winds "knocked us back and forth and just blew us over," said Lawrence Brazell, driver of one of the trucks.
Five people were injured and taken to area hospitals, according to state police Sgt. Robert A. Johnson.
Interstates 95 and 295 were closed in both directions because of the accidents.
David Jones, 45, of Chesterfield County, said he was in Hopewell when he saw the tornado dive down in front of him. "It was like a light switch going off. Suddenly it got real dark and it started pelting the truck." He pointed out a hole in the door of his black pickup truck, pierced by a flying piece of wood.
Gov. Douglas Wilder activated the National Guard before heading from the capital in Richmond by helicopter to survey the damage, said spokeswoman Lisa Katz. The Army said it sent at least three helicopters to help with evacuations.
Hospitals in the area were treating the wounded.
Petersburg officials said at least 30 people were injured in a nine-square-block area. Two of them were considered critical, said Mayor Rosalyn Dance.
City Manager Valerie Lemmie estimated damage in the city at $10 million.
Bill Martin, Petersburg's tourism director, said almost every building was damaged at Pocahontas Island, an historic neighborhood north of downtown that was settled by free blacks before the Civil War.
Dale Pittman, who runs the legal aid office in Petersburg, had just finished a lunch of spaghetti with marinara sauce at Alexander's Restaurant in the Old Town section about 2 p.m. As he paid for lunch, he said, "I saw some hail coming down." He went to open the front door and it blew open in his face. "It couldn't have lasted more than three minutes. Everybody ran to the back of the restaurant," he said.
A policeman was the first one out and he pointed out to Pittman that the top floor of a three-story building next door had been sheared off. They could see a woman sitting on a piece of plywood in her second-floor apartment. She was unharmed. "It was remarkably calm. If I hadn't opened the door when I did, all the windows would have blown in," Pittman said.
Friday's twister struck with little warning. The National Weather Service posted a bulletin at 1:35 p.m., minutes after it hit the Wal-Mart.
"We've had several reports of tornadoes, but I don't know if they are the same one or several," said meteorologist Peter Wolf. Confirmation would have to wait until a survey team from Washington inspected the damage, he said.
The last fatal tornado in Virginia hit near Augusta Springs in the Shenandoah Valley in 1989, killing two people.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB