Residents return after tornadoes injure 200 in Virginia

SUFFOLK, Va. (AP) — Weary residents and business owners returned to what was left of their homes and livelihoods Tuesday after three tornadoes smashed houses, piled cars on each other and injured more than 200 people.

One twister in this city outside Norfolk cut a zigzagging path 25 miles long through residential areas, obliterating some homes in sprays of splintered lumber while leaving others just a few feet away untouched.

Search teams with dogs found no sign of deaths or any additional injured victims, Suffolk City Fire Chief Mark Outlaw said.

"The only thing I can say is we were watched over and blessed," Outlaw said.

Most home and business owners were blocked from damaged areas until officials could assess the damage. It wasn't clear when they could return.

Several roads were closed Tuesday morning, and traffic was backed up leading into downtown Suffolk, a city of approximately 80,000 outside Norfolk.

Of the 200 injured, only six were listed in critical condition and six were listed as serious.

Officials listed 125 Suffolk homes and 15 buildings as uninhabitable.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine declared a state of emergency, which frees up resources for those areas hit hardest. Kaine planned to visit some of the most damaged areas on Tuesday.

The National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes struck Suffolk, Brunswick County, about 60 miles west, and Colonial Heights, about 60 miles northwest. Meteorologist Bryan Jackson described Suffolk's as a "major tornado."

The Brunswick County tornado was estimated at 86 mph to 110 mph, and cut a 300-yard path, Jackson said. It struck first, at about 1 p.m., said Mike Rusnak, a weather service meteorologist in Wakefield.

The second struck Colonial Heights around 3:40 p.m., he said.

The tornado believed to have caused damage over a 25-mile path from Suffolk to Norfolk touched down repeatedly between 4:30 and 5 p.m., Rusnak said.

At least 200 were injured in Suffolk and 18 others were injured in Colonial Heights, south of Richmond, said Bob Spieldenner of the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.