RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Thunderstorms across Central Virginia brought destructive wind gusts which downed trees and severed power lines.
Our Stormtracker 8News meteorologists said powerful thunderstorms with up to 60 miles- per-hour wind gusts and hail ripped through some areas overnight. Thousands of Dominion Energy customers reported power outages Friday night into Saturday.
The severe weather hit Amelia County and Richmond the hardest, said 8News meteorologist Emily Kaye.
The heavy downpours tore down trees in the Woodland Heights community in Richmond and left people soaked as storms battered the city.
One woman stayed at home to wait out the severe weather.
“It was hailing and I thought it was a tornado coming. The wind was really blowing bad,” she said.
Crews blocked off a portion of Semmes Avenue near West 25th Street to pickup fallen trees. Dominion Energy and other crews were spotted in different areas picking up debris and fixing power lines.
People living nearby said storms like this haven’t caused widespread damage in the neighborhood before.
“We’ve been lucky on storms, but this one you know it came out of nowhere,” the woman said.
Dominion Energy reported about 3,000 Virginia customers were in the dark overnight. As of 5 p.m. Saturday afternoon, more than 300 customers were still without power.
City leaders said crews will be working throughout the weekend to cleanup debris.
