THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 13, 1995 TAG: 9511130048
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LON WAGNER AND STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Long : 105 lines
A strong cold front kicked out a late-season mass of summer-like weather Saturday night, and Hampton Roads residents had a ringside seat for the pummeling.
But a lot of folks had to watch in the dark. In Hampton Roads, more than 33,000 Virginia Power customers were left without service at some point by the storm, and a few won't get their electricity back until this morning.
Statewide, the storm knocked out power to more than 93,000 utility customers.
Locally, Suffolk bore the brunt of the atmospheric duel. Residents were out at dawn Sunday - some cleaning up, others driving around to survey the damage and share stories of the storm's intensity and brevity.
``We could see it on the horizon,'' said Bill Peachy, a resident of the Lakeside section of Suffolk, who watched the storm approach late Saturday as he drove down Military Highway near the Hampton Roads Airport. ``You've never seen such violent lightning.''
When Peachy and his wife, Dixie, pulled up to their home 10 minutes later, the storm was gone but it had left a costly calling card. Her 2-year-old car had been smashed by the sheered-off top of a tree from a yard across the street.
``We were lucky because a few minutes earlier and we would've been right in the middle of it,''
Dixie Peachy said. ``When we came home the only thing I could see through the tree was the reflection of my license plate.''
Just down the street, Elaine Salmon wasn't as fortunate. She was in her car when a tree fell on it at her home. She was listed in stable condition at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital Sunday.
Suffolk was abuzz Sunday afternoon with the whirring of chain saws while crews blocked streets in three of the more badly damaged sections of town - the upscale neighborhoods of Riverview and Lakeside and near the industrial area of Wilroy Road.
On Wilroy Road, the metal skirting over Ruth Nielsen's front door was torn away and her yard was covered with broken pine trees. On this crisp autumn day, the 5-foot tall stacks of pine and cedar branches smelled of the holidays.
Until Saturday night, though, Nielsen said she didn't have any pine trees in her yard. They were imported by the high winds that splintered a half-dozen full-grown pines on the other side of Wilroy Road, dumping the debris in her yard.
``There was a big crash like a big crash of thunder,'' Nielsen said, ``and at the same time the limbs started hitting the house. I was just hoping the trees wouldn't come through the roof. It was a terrible racket. It was pretty frightening.''
Despite the extensive damage, residents said the storm lasted only a few minutes. The cold front announced its arrival with such force that most folks recalled what they were doing at the moment it hit.
``We'd just finished dinner and were watching TV getting ready to listen to Vince Gill sing `Go Rest on the Mountain,' and then boom,'' said Lakeside resident Sharon Picot.
Jack and Mary Darden, Riverview residents, heard the wind blowing and then saw two bright flashes over their neighborhood. They assumed it was electrical transformers blowing up. An old tree had smashed through the roof of the house next door.
``It just kind of went through, and then it was quiet again,'' Jack Darden said. ``Very quick. Just a few minutes.''
Judging from the noise and destruction, many residents were certain they had survived a tornado. Several people said they recalled hearing a sound like a ``freight train'' when the storm arrived.
``I was out on the deck,'' said Bill Russell whose car was smashed by a tree limb. ``I said, `Nancy, it sounds like a daggone train, that wind's blowing so hard.' Some people say it was not a tornado, but if it wasn't I hate to see one because it was so darn loud.''
Highway crews worked into the night Sunday clearing debris from roadways, some of which were closed for hours by twisted tree trunks and limbs that ripped down power, telephone and cable lines as they fell.
Junius H. Williams Jr., a spokesman for Virginia Power, said repair crews were working around the clock to restore service. But the process was slow.
Major lines were repaired first to restore service to the largest number of customers as quickly as possible. By Sunday afternoon, most of the remaining outages were single residences or small clusters of homes.
Williams said about 2,700 customers were still without service late Sunday afternoon, including about 1,800 scattered throughout Virginia Beach, 638 in Suffolk and 236 in Williamsburg.
Most service was expected to be restored by midnight except in Suffolk, where some people may not get electricity until today, he said.
Hampton Roads was not alone. The storms surged east along the edge of a powerful cold front that stretched from New England to South Carolina. And most everywhere it passed, the storms wreaked havoc.
More than 350,000 customers were still without electricity Sunday from North Carolina to Maine after the storm's violent passage. ILLUSTRATION: A prelude to winter
GARY C. KNAPP PHOTOS
The fierce storm that struck Suffolk Saturday evening overturned a
truck at the Wilroy Industrial Park. Winds also tossed about the
sheared tops of trees, damaging some cars and homes.
When the storm that trashed parts of Suffolk moved through Prince
Andrew Lane in the Kings Grant subdivision of Virginia Beach, this
tree came down on the occupied house.
KEYWORDS: WEATHER STORM DAMAGE by CNB