THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 4, 1994 TAG: 9407040048
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CINDY CLAYTON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
A sunny holiday weekend in Hampton Roads was interrupted again Sunday afternoon when another thunderstorm sent boaters and beachgoers heading for shelter.
Before it was finished, Sunday's storm dumped heavy rain on some areas, but left others dry.
As the mercury climbed to 92 degrees, the storm began developing in Virginia Beach then headed slowly southwest, said Modesto Vasquez, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.
Chesapeake and Norfolk also saw lightning, heavy rains and winds that gusted up to 40 mph, Vasquez said. Some areas of Portsmouth received little or no rain.
Vasquez said heavy downpours added up to about 1.79 inches of rain at Norfolk International Airport. The summer storm that moved through the area Saturday left 2.84 inches.
The severe weather caused several accidents throughout the area, but no life-threatening injuries were reported.
A series of chain-reaction accidents on the interstate system sent at least 20 people to Norfolk hospitals, said Tammy Van Dame, state police spokesperson. The first accident was reported at 3:50 p.m. on Interstate 264 near the Merrimac Avenue exit. A westbound 1992 Ford pickup skidded across the median into the eastbound lanes and struck two cars, one head-on.
Minutes later, a driver who tried to avoid the wreckage caused a three-car accident, said Van Dame. One of the vehicles was a passenger van with eight or nine people.
At 4:10 p.m. three other cars were involved in a chain-reaction accident on 264 westbound near the same exit, sending six people to the hospital. And an hour later, three people were injured in a five-vehicle accident near the Military Highway exit.
Several other accidents were reported on I-64 and the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway, but information was not available, said Van Dame.
Failing power circuits caused widespread outages in Chesapeake, affecting homeowners and part of Greenbrier Mall, said a Virginia Power spokesman.
About 8,000 residents in Norfolk were without electricity for at least an hour Sunday evening; 2,000 homes in Virginia Beach were affected. Most went without power for a few hours. All were expected to be restored by midnight.
In Norfolk, flooding was reported around Military Circle mall. High winds in all three cities toppled trees and fences; police reported several minor accidents on secondary roads.
Vasquez said the area could see more storms today and Tuesday. The forecast for Independence Day calls for a high in the mid- to upper 80s with a 30 percent chance of showers. The chance of showers Tuesday is 40 percent. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA, Staff
Several traffic accidents, including this one on westbound
Interstate 264 in Norfolk, occurred during the storm.
KEYWORDS: WEATHER by CNB