Residents, retailers reeling, but recovering

By Nate Delesline III

Published: June 6, 2008

A day after powerful storms blew through the region, it is still not clear if tornados were part of the severe weather.

“We cannot confirm any tornados yet,” said Brian LaSorsa, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sterling.  “We are going out on several storm surveys. It’s a very large list, so it’s going to take a little while.”

Thursday afternoon, LaSorsa said it may take up to 36 hours to investigate and confirm any reported tornados. He said National Weather Service investigators are dispatched to areas with heavy tree and power line damage. There, they look for indicators of circular wind patterns.

LaSorsa said winds topped out at 41 miles per hour at Culpeper Regional Airport accompanied by hail nearly two inches in diameter with about two inches of rain.
Meanwhile, Culpeper continues to recover from Wednesday evening’s weather that left the region in the dark for hours.

Power failed in Culpeper at 7:19 p.m. Wednesday and wasn’t restored until about 1 a.m. Thursday. Culpeper Town spokesman Wally Bunker and town Director of Light and Power Mark Bly said the widespread power failure was due to Virginia Dominion Electric power equipment in the Stevensburg area that suffered wind damage, which in turn interrupted town service.

Around 1 p.m. Thursday, about 3,700 Dominion customers were still without power in the company’s Western Piedmont service area, which includes Culpeper County and 500 Rappahannock Electric Customers were without power, according to estimates posted on both company’s Web sites.

Virginia Department of Transportation spokesman Dee Brooking said three secondary roads were closed after the storms. The roads — Routes 721, 617, and 710 — were reopened Thursday evening.

Brooking said while there were other reports of impeded traffic, “There’s still a lots of cleanup to do.”

Culpeper County Public Schools were closed Thursday, but the day will not be made up and schools still will be dismissed June 10, according to an e-mail from Marla McKenna, CCPS public information officer.

Several area retailers who were out of power for about six hours were seen Thursday restocking their freezers and refrigerators with fresh products.

Culpeper resident Kim Glascoe, who was shopping at Wal-Mart with her mother Katie, browsed the freezer section as employees refilled a refrigerated case with meat.

“I’ve never seen Wal-Mart closed except for the holidays,” Kim said of Wednesday’s weather, describing the blackout as “terrible.”

“You couldn’t get anything — I had to go to my mom’s to go cook,” she said. At other businesses in town, including CVS at Germanna Highway and Main Street and the Subway in Southgate shopping center, reports of computer troubles lingered into the mid-afternoon.

Today, the National Weather Service expects mostly sunny skies with a high temperature near 92.

This evening, temperatures are expected to drop to 68 under cloudy skies. Saturday, sunny skies are expected again with highs in the mid-90s.

Nate Delesline III can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 110 or .