VA Weather: Tornadoes In Tidewater As Elsa Moves Into Northeast

VIRGINIA — Tropical Storm Elsa brought torrential rains and tornado activity to the Tidewater area of Virginia late Thursday before crossing into Maryland and heading through Delaware toward New York and New England.

The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado in the Suffolk area. A tractor supply store in Suffolk reportedly sustained some damage from a tornado spawned by Elsa. The tornado struck around 7:15 p.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.

Across the region, residents’ phones were buzzing with tornado warning alerts. A tornado also hit the Smithfield area of Isle of Wight, causing trees to fall on a home, the NWS said. Numerous tree branches came down and trees were uprooted in the area.

Throughout the region, various tornado warnings were issued for parts of Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Windsor, Benns Church, Isle of Wight County, Whaleyville, Suffolk, Smithfield and Franklin.

Dominion Energy reported more than 11,000 customers in the region, including parts of Virginia and eastern North Carolina, had lost power as of 11 p.m. Thursday. As of Friday morning, Dominion had restored power to all but about 1,000 customers in southeast Virginia.

In Petersburg, a driver was stranded in flood waters on a city street Thursday night.

The Fredericksburg area received less than an inch of rain, with wind gusts of 20 mph. Rain totals were even less in Northern Virginia.

In the D.C. area, the NWS is calling for very warm temperatures and high humidity on Friday with scattered to locally numerous showers and thunderstorms, especially east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Some storms may be severe with damaging winds the primary threat.