Virginia Beach: Tornado tears through town, damages houses

A powerful tornado went on a rampage across Virginia Beach, a small town in the eastern US state, levelling a large number of residences and devastating the power infrastructure in the area, which plunged the locals into darkness for days, officials said.

In a statement, the city said: "Remarkably, there have been no injuries reported so far."

National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Montefusco noted that the vortex struck the area of Fort Story along the Virginia Beach shoreline shortly before 6 pm.

A tornado in Virginia Beach made a distinct signature in radar and other data analysed by the weather service, he noted. However, its force wouldn't be known for hours. That usually involves having weather experts on the ground, where they can see the path of destruction.

Virginia Beach city said late at night it estimates 50 to 100 homes have been damaged. A local state of emergency was in effect, and city crews were scheduled to fan out Monday morning to clear debris, noted the statement.

The city noted that a recreation centre was transformed into an "impact centre" that can be used as a shelter for those whose homes may have been left uninhabitable as a result of the tornado in Virginia Beach.

The city’s Fire Department said some homes had gas leaks in the wake of the Virginia Beach tornado.

Earlier, the city said downed trees struck at least one home and one vehicle. Utility Dominion Energy said 2,635 customers were in the dark at 8pm, but shortly before midnight power had been restored to almost all of those energy users, as per its outage map.

The National Weather Service had earlier predicted about Virginia Beach tornado.

The organisers and the city had postponed the third day of the Something in the Water music festival on Sunday at Virginia Beach, citing weather concerns.

"It was determined with high confidence that severe weather storm warnings tonight would impact the safety of all festival areas throughout this evening," the city added.