Thunderstorm brings down trees, power (UPDATE)
Published 2:05 pm Thursday, July 10, 2014
UPDATE: At around 5:30 p.m., Jeff Orrock said the National Weather Service office in Wakefield had a trained spotter going down to look at the damage to gauge wether a tornado touched down, or if it was straight line winds. Per the radar, the meteorologist said he believed it was straight line winds. Orrock said wind speeds were likely 70 to 80 miles per hour. “As far as wind speeds, with a low speed tornado or straight line winds, you are still going to see some damage,” he said. Once wind speed hits the 70s, you will see structure damage, Orrock said. The meteorologist said to expect more rain to come through tonight while you are sleeping. There may be thunderstorms along with the rain, but they are not expected to be severe.
UPDATE: At 6:30 p.m., Gene Drewery with the Southampton County Sheriff’s Office said there were no injuries reported.
CAPRON—An afternoon storm knocked down trees, blocked roads and caused power outages near Capron, Adams Grove, Drewryville and Medicine Springs, according to Southampton County Sheriff’s Office Maj. Gene Drewery.
Route 58 westbound at Route 308, or 3 Creeks Road, was among the roadways blocked with trees and water, according to Virginia State Police. Traffic was backed up for two miles as State Police worked with the Virginia Department of Transportation to remove debris, trees and disabled vehicles.
At 3 p.m., a State Police spokeswoman reported that VDOT crews had cleared all major debris on Route 58, but there were still down power lines on Route 58 at Route 308. State Police had called out more troopers to help with the storm cleanup.
At 4:30 p.m., Drewery reported extensive damage to the Mecklenburg power lines that run down Green Plain Roads in the western area of Southampton County. At least 10 main power lines were broken, and power is expected to be out at least overnight.
People can report power outages to 1-877-632-5688.
So far, the sheriff’s office has received no reports of injuries in the storm, Drewery said.
He said that law enforcement received reports of possible tornadoes.
The storm produced quarter-size hail, according to Dan Proch with the National Weather Service in Wakefield.
Proch said the NWS received reports of funnel clouds and a possible tornado, but the way the storm looked on the radar, he said it was hard to conclude that it was a tornado.
Severe thunderstorms are capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 60 miles per hour. While tornadoes can develop from these storms, the initial report from the National Weather Service suggested that was not likely with this system.
If a tornado is spotted, however, citizens should act quickly and move to a place of safety inside a sturdy structure, such as a basement or small interior room.
More information will be released as it becomes available.