THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 19, 1996 TAG: 9606190535
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 57 lines
A sudden squall that dumped more than two inches of rain in two hours flooded streets, stranded motorists and caused a store roof to collapse on Tuesday.
The torrents were measured at Norfolk International Airport in Norfolk, but some witnesses in Virginia Beach said the total there was much higher, maybe as much as four inches in the hourlong storm.
In Virginia Beach, the flat roof of Plaza Pawn near the intersection of First Colonial Road and Virginia Beach Boulevard gave way under the weight of rainwater that quickly collected during the intense showers. Employees and customers inside managed to scramble out unhurt, said Mike Wade, spokesman for the Virginia Beach Fire Department.
And a few miles away on Great Neck Road, a routine traffic accident turned scary when a car that fell into a rain-swollen ditch was suddenly swallowed by the rising runoff. Rescue workers freed the occupants, who weren't hurt.
Also on Great Neck Road, a doctor's office flooded. Nearby on Regency Drive, water swept through the Virginia Beach Church of God.
During the height of the downpour, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Virginia Beach's emergency communications center was getting three calls a minute, about 10 times as many as normal, said police spokesman Mike Carey.
That may have been an ``all-time high'' for calls during a storm, Carey said.
Dispatchers, rescue workers and police officers reported a foot or more of water covering parts of Birdneck, Great Neck and Laskin roads, Atlantic Avenue and Lynnhaven Parkway.
Police and fire officials reported no storm-related injuries.
Officials in Norfolk said parts of Ocean View and Willoughby Spit, especially underpasses, were also submerged. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
L. TODD SPENCER
VIRGINIA BEACH
After the storm Tuesday, visitors from Buffalo, N.Y., wade across
Atlantic Avenue on their way to the Ramada Inn Oceanfront. In
addition to flooded streets and stranded motorists, the roof of a
store near First Colonial Road and Virginia Beach Boulevard
collapsed under the weight of water.
JOHN C. BELL
OCEAN VIEW
Rick Shinabarger and William Thompson ride out the storm on
Shinabarger's Chevette. The two were stranded in high water on
Tidewater Drive.
Map
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