Possible Tornado Touches Down in Bent Creek
Bent Creek, a small community located near Rt. 60 and the James River bridge was hit by what appears to have been a small tornado on Tuesday, March 4. Most of the County was under a tornado watch Tuesday evening, with winds gusting up to 60 MPH.
Bent Creek residents heard a roaring noise, similar to that of a freight train, that began around 6:30 PM and continued until nearly 7 PM. Because it was dark out at the time, no one reported seeing a funnel cloud; but the morning revealed major damage along a half-mile stretch of Oakville Road (Rt. 26).
Trees were toppled, siding ripped off houses, sheds destroyed, and flying debris cause further damage to vehicles and structures. Fortunately no Appomattoxians were injured during the high winds, which whipped throughout the entire County, downing trees and ripping shingles from roofs.
A significant portion of the state was affected by the wind storms and approximately 10,000 citizens were without power. Damage was reported from counties throughout the state, from Wise to Essex, and Louisa as well as Appomattox.
Governor Timothy M. Kaine declared a state of emergency for the entire state of Virginia and directed state agencies to do everything necessary to aid citizens affected by the unusual weather conditions.
Virginia is not normally affected by tornadoes, especially in the center of the state. Approximately ten years ago a severe wind sheer took out acres of forest between Lynchburg and Appomattox, but this weather incident never was tied to a tornado. While early spring generally brings of high winds due to rapid temperature changes, it is rare for really violent winds to cause damage in this area.
Thanks to the declared state of emergency, all local and state agencies were able to work together to clean up the debris and get power restored to those without. Power was restored to the majority of customers within a few hours of the outage.
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