Tornadoes hit Virginia, state of emergency declared | 04.29.2008 | 08:51:23 | Views: 6589 | ID: April 29 '08: According to the Washington Post, at least 200 people were injured when a series of tornadoes ripped through Southeastern Virginia. Governor Time Kaine declared a state of emergency while emergency medical officials in Suffolk at the Sentara Obici Hospital set up an incident command center and triage stations outside after the hospital was mildly injured after the storms. CNN reported at least 140 homes destroyed by the three confirmed tornadoes. According to Bloomberg, police and first responders partnered with the American Red Cross to help set up emergency shelters while roadways were closed and utility crews began to try and restore power to the thousands who were cut off from electricity. The Mayor of Suffolk, Linda Johnson said in an interview with CNN that her city had "had three minutes of warning. ... This was just out of the blue, and the people were just very, very surprised." According to the Washington Post, about 18,000 people were without power according to Virginia Dominion Power. The National Weather Service had confirmed that at least one of the storms was an F1-scale with winds of up to 112 mph. National Blueprint Tags: Response & Containment, Citizen & Community.
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