jeremy_wheeler's Blog

The National Weather Service has put out the results from their damage assesments from the recent severe weather.  There is a new scale that they use called the Enhanced Fujita scale (EF scale).  It estimates the winds in a tornado based mostly on the damage.   An EF-3 tornado touched down in Suffolk causing 200 injuries and destroying numerous homes and businesses.  This included damage in the Driver area.  A terrible tragedy, but at least no one was killed.  Winds in an EF-3 are between 138-167mph.  The same storm moved over Norfolk Naval base and spawned an EF-1 tornado that caused damage to one building and several cars.  Winds in an EF-1 tornado are between 86-109mph. 

An EF-1 tornado did damage around Carrsville in Isle of Wight County.  Eleven homes and six buildings recieved damage. 

An EF-1 Also touched down in Northern Surry County around Claremont.  A double wide home was destroyed and numerous trees were down or snapped off. 

An EF-0 formed over Gloucester county.  The same storm formed another EF-0 over Mathews county shortly after.  The tornadoes knocked a lot of trees down in both areas, but I haven't seen any reports of damage to buildings.  EF-0's have winds under 86mph.  Don't let the 0 fool you though.  They are still dangerous and can do damage. 

There was damage reported near some homes in the Jamestown area, but I haven't seen a confirmation whether it was a tornado or not yet.  Damage assesments take a while and we may see more reports over the next couple of days.  All of the above information was released from the National Weather Service office in Wakefield.  They did a great job in issuing warnings for the event. 

There were a couple of other tornadoes outside of the viewing area.  It was a sad/scary day that will be remembered for a long time.  I got to ride in Chopper 10 and see the damage first hand in Suffolk.  It's always amazing to see the power of nature, yet sad to see how many people's lives can be affected too.