Virginia Beach Begins Cleau-up After Destructive Tornado

Clean-up efforts began on Monday in the coastal city of Virginia Beach after it was struck by a destructive tornado over the weekend.

A state of emergency has been declared and schools have been shuttered as officials survey the damage, which includes dozens of damaged homes.

The tornadoes hit the US east coast over the weekend.

Another severe storm in Florida was powerful enough to flip cars and down trees.

City officials in Virginia Beach said there were between 50 to 100 homes that had been damaged by Saturday’s tornado, though teams on the ground are continuing to assess the storm’s impact.

“We don’t have all the answers right now,” said city manager Patrick Duhaney at a news conference on Monday.

“We’re working to get a whole host of information regarding to what extent the damage was, but we do know there’s been hundreds of homes that likely have been impacted.”

Drone footage released by the Virginia Fire Department showed several homes with their roofs collapsed. Virginia Natural Gas said it also responded to several homes with gas leaks.

How to survive a tornado
Mr Duhaney said there were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths, but first responders did make some rescue attempts during the severe weather.

The tornado began just after 18:00 local time (23:00 BST) on Saturday. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the storm registered as an EF-3 – meaning severe – on the Enhanced Fujita scale, a zero to five scale that classes twisters by estimated wind speeds and related damage.

Virginia Beach declared a state of emergency on Sunday, with temporary shelters opened for people whose homes were damaged by the storm.

The storm also forced the cancellation of a music festival hosted by musician Pharrell Williams on Saturday evening when officials deemed it unsafe for attendees.

Meanwhile, south Florida is recovering from tornadoes that touched down on Friday and Saturday.

The NWS office in Miami said Saturday’s tornado in Palm Beach Gardens reached wind speeds of up to 130 mph (209 km/h), and registered as an EF-2 – or strong – on the Enhanced Fujita scale.

The City of Palm Beach Gardens said in a statement that the tornado caused “roof, structural and vehicle damage throughout the city”.

Videos and images from the area showed the extent of the tornado’s damage, including overturned cars, broken windows and snapped tree branches.

One dramatic video captured by a motorist showed a car being flipped by the tornado on the US 1 highway.

The tornado also caused one apartment complex in North Palm Beach to suffer extensive damage to its roof, and boats docked nearby were upended from their moorings.

Authorities were forced to close major roadways to clean up debris and inspect wreckage from the storm.