Virginians return to tornado-ravaged homes, see what's left
Pastor Dale Morgan
Virginians return to tornado-ravaged homes, see what's left*
By SONJA BARISIC,
Associated Press Writer
SUFFOLK, Va. - Beth Catania returned Wednesday to the home that had
collapsed around her during a tornado to see what she could retrieve.
She came away with a few small items, including an antique domino that
was a gift from her son.
"There isn't anything there," said Catania, who hid in a closet that
exploded as the tornado broke apart the house she recently put on the
market. The force blew off her shoes and sent her rolling for several
feet, but she was OK except for cuts and bruises.
"The biggest old tree on the property is gone and I'm still here," she
said, putting her hand to her cheek.
Residents of neighborhoods ravaged by the worst of Monday's tornadoes,
which flattened homes and other buildings but spared lives, were allowed
to move back home Wednesday _ if their houses were still livable. Many
found their houses spray-painted with a blue "X," indicating they had
been condemned.
The National Weather Service confirmed Wednesday that eight tornadoes
struck Virginia over four hours on Monday, meteorologist Bryan Jackson
said. Weather officials were trying to determine whether two additional
storms also were tornadoes, he said.
The damage may total tens of millions of dollars in Suffolk, a city of
80,000 west of Norfolk that was hit by the worst of the tornadoes.
Officials let residents go through their belongings and bring in
contractors and insurance adjusters to begin figuring out what could be
salvaged and what could be rebuilt.
Some said they were frustrated that they weren't able to go home sooner
and complained about what they said was a lack of information from
officials, who were relying largely on the media to spread word of
developments.
"No one has told us what the plan is," Fritz Whitfield said Wednesday
morning as he and other residents gathered at a school. At that point,
police were escorting residents to their homes for just 10 minutes to
gather what they could.
Later, officials decided it was safe to let people go home permanently.
Suffolk Mayor Linda Johnson said officials had to make sure debris was
cleared from roads and that electricity and gas lines presented no danger.
"All it would have taken was for somebody to throw a cigarette down and
we could have had another disaster," Johnson said as she walked through
a devastated neighborhood, stopping to talk to and hug returning residents.
"I'm frustrated, too," she added. "This is a heartbreak for our city."
Dewitt Dorsey, who has lived in his subdivision for 14 years, said he
knew safety was a concern but that people should have been allowed to
return home Tuesday.
"They cut the power. They had inspectors there," he said. "We should
have been able to come back, too."
The twister sheared off the siding from an entire wall of Dorsey's
house, blasted out the windows and dumped the top of his wife's china
cabinet out onto the driveway, shattering its contents and spraying the
pieces.
The basketball hoop his grandchildren play with was knocked over, and
the garage it once stood by was mostly gone.
Asked what was the worst loss, Dorsey paused, looked down and said
quietly: "I don't really know at this point."
Inside, his wife Beverly swept up shattered glass and marveled at how
the tornado made a mess in some rooms and but left her children's
portraits hanging in place on a living room wall and didn't touch the
large television set.
"I haven't cried yet. I hate to see it go," she said of the house, "but
it's just material things.
"There's no need to be upset because we still have a lot. It's not like
we have to start all over again."