Heavy rains from a slow- moving storm flooded roads in Norfolk and Portsmouth on Wednesday, closing lanes in the Downtown Tunnel, causing rush-hour delays and stranding motorists.
The heaviest rainfall came in a pocket between Portsmouth and Norfolk, said Mike Rusnak, a National Weather Service meteorologist. About 3 to 6 inches fell in the area from 4 to 6 p.m. About 7 inches of rainfall was recorded in southern Norfolk.
Meanwhile, only about half an inch fell in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach along the North Carolina border.
In Portsmouth, Fire Capt. Paul Hoyle said the water got as high as 5 or 6 feet in some areas, particularly downtown.
"It was all the normal areas - it was just worse than usual," Hoyle said.
Norfolk firefighters called in help from Virginia Beach, which sent a unit with small boats to get to people trapped in flooded intersections.
The worst areas were on Virginia Beach Boulevard and Brambleton Avenue, both at Park Avenue near Norfolk State University, according to Norfolk Fire Battalion Chief Harry Worley.
The storm moved slowly and "people get caught unaware," he said.
Stephen McClease was headed home from work on Brambleton Avenue toward Norfolk State University, going under the railroad tracks east of Tidewater Drive, when water began to flood the road.
"It was like Niagara Falls the way the water was coming," he said.
McClease wanted to back up, but traffic was stopped behind him. He said he saw a woman in a car in front of him climb out her sunroof and sit on her car as water washed up the sides.
He decided to move.
"I forced the door open and got out," he said. "I'm 6-foot-3. When I got out, water was up to my waist."
Another motorist helped the woman who was sitting on her car. At 6:45 p.m., McClease could only wait. His 2006 Chrysler 300 was still submerged, but a wrecker was not able to get through the standing water.
The eastbound lanes of the Downtown Tunnel also fell victim to the floodwaters. Standing water closed the lanes to traffic until after 10 p.m. when about 3 feet of water could be pumped out.
The pumps in the tunnel were overwhelmed by the water and were working slowly, Worley said.
When calls from stranded motorists began to subside, firefighters from Norfolk and Portsmouth worked with the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Maritime Incident Response Team to help remove the water with pumps that are normally used to pump out ships and can move about 3,000 gallons of water per minute.
VDOT said it would sweep out the eastbound lanes, one at a time, to clear any debris that might have collected during the flood. The work was to be done after midnight to make sure the lanes would be clear for this morning's rush hour.
Exits along Interstate 264 in Portsmouth and Norfolk were closed because of flooding. Westbound exits for Campostella Road and Brambleton Avenue in Norfolk and the Effingham Street, Frederick and Victory boulevards exits in Portsmouth were still impassable at 11 p.m. Wednesday.
Staff writers Janie Bryant and Patrick Wilson contributed to this report.
Lauren King, (757) 446-2309, lauren.king@pilotonline.com
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Second Verse, Same as the First
Okay folks -- Just want to make sure everyone sees that a Flash Flood Warning has been issued for Hampton and Newport News.
That means if the area you normally park in gets flooded when it rains, don't park there. It also means that unless you're driving an amphibious vehicle, don't drive through the deep puddles. Water in your engine is bad.
I know, we shouldn't have to break it down like this, but reading a lot of the below comments, you have to wonder.
Where we live
"Tidewater" is the second most vulnerable place next to New Orleans for a mass loss of life to happen along our coastline. That's because we are so low, just like the Big Easy which is below sea level.
Where I live, flooding during a heavy rain cuts off the road making it impossible for emergency vehicles to respond. WE ARE AN ISLAND!
PEOPLE WILL DIE IN THE NEXT HURRICANE. It will happen because citizens will be cut off from escaping before the event. Look at what Isabel did here. It wasn't even a hurricane when it got to Hampton Roads, it was a tropical storm. We did have two weeks of heavy rains before which loosened a lot of tree roots, hence the damage.
People need to be responsible for themselves. Nobody is going to help you.
I have heard the elected officials talk about it in meetings. They are SCARED _h___ess about what will happen. Rightfully so. Wake up.
Time for tattooed social security numbers for anyone who lives here. The first responders will thank you.
Just Curious...
Where do you get your fact that tidewater is the second most vulnerable place second to New Orleans?
I also believe in being self-reliant However, If you look at
What happened with Floyd and Isabel all of the roads leading out of town were blocked long before the main storm arrived. In both storms Exiting Hampton Roads wasn't possible using 58, 13, 460, 337, 10, 32, 258, 158, 17, 60, 64, 143. And the back roads were blocked as well. There are so many small culvert bridges that no one notices until we have a lot of rain and those little spots are blocked with feet of water. My point is you can be self reliant all you want, but if you're not able to judge when to leave in advance of a hurricane even a Category 1, you will be trapped here and with enough rain even places that are usually okay become flooded. You can be the most self reliant person, but you can't fix roads and all of our exit roads will become impassable BEFORE the main storm. And if the storm happens to increase in intensity no amount of self reliance will save you. The debris field of every hurricane is littered with the bodies of those that are dependent as well as the self reliant. When Hampton Roads eventually gets a storm that puts us under 15' to 20' of water Katrina will look like a picnic in comparison.
When to leave
Good point...why would anyone wait until the last minute to leave? I recall a storm in recent history where it was a "voluntary" evacuation of the oceanfront/Sandbridge areas. Don't have to ask me more than once. I have never had any problem leaving this area in advance of a problematic storm...Isabel and Floyd included. 64 was perfectly fine when I left town...I can't speak to the other roadways you mentioned, as I didn't use those routes.
flooding
In defense of VDOT, I don't care how much money they get to fix road isues, no amount of money can fix stupid. If you see flooding and you don't happen to own the Batmobile or the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car, stay where you are. You can't blame VDOT for lack of common sense!!
Yeah but not everyone knows where flooding occurs.
One of the doctors at the Naval Hospital has been living in Hampton Roads for a few years. Twice a week he leaves the hospital and parks on High Street and has dinner at one of the restaurants with friends. Well, yesterday they were trapped in the restaurant because the sky opened up. I happened to ask where he had parked and he had parked on Washington and High by St. Paul's Church. Well, I know that is not a good place to be in a downpour in downtown Portsmouth. Yesterday the area around St. Paul's was more than 5 feet deep. He didn't know that and by the time he went in the pouring rain to check on his car it was too late it was under water. My point is that not everyone that looses their car to flooding is lacking in common sense. It isn't obvious that every place that you park your car is a FLOOD ZONE when we have 5" of rain in an hour. However I do agree trying to drive through several feet of water in your car is plain dumb. And at the very least the seals for the oil pan and transmission don't like suddenly being cooled several degrees and usually end up leaking or letting small amounts of water in.
The Flood on Aug 12
I had left my doc's office returning to work--only 2 mins. away. It was only a tip tap rain when I got in my car. I drove 1.5 mins and the buckets of rain fell. I couldn't believe it in just that little time. As I turned onto London Blvd, I noticed cars trying to get thru the water and had stopped trying figure whether or not to come thru the water. I proceeded thru the first part of the water until I saw a white car stuck way ahead with blinkers on and then I said this is not worth it. I backed up and turned around and went back to High St and proceeded home. It was scary driving because I could hardly see and water was every where. When I got to West Norfolk Bridge, it was like dry yet I saw the cloud following me. So I hurried home before it began to pour. As I got into the house about 10-15 mins later, the buckets looked to have fallen out of the sky. I was so glad to be home. Most of all I am glad I used my head to back up out of the water, not proceed and try to get home. I called to work and told them what had happened to me and about the weather conditions. Glad to be safe!
A.Spencer, Portsmouth
Doctor's car should be fine
If his car was parked in a place that got flooded, it isn't a loss. As long as he didn't open the door or worse, try to start the car it should be fine. The interior could be dried out and the engine is 100% fine if no one tries to start it under water and pull water into the engine.
Drowned Cars
Just because the engine wasn't running doesn't mean the engine is OK. If wanter runs into it, it is likely screwed. If you KNOW water ran into it and you get the water out, you might be OK. You have to at the very least take off the heads.
Water is not good in the electronics. Stuff under the hood is pretty well protected, but not under the dash.
Finally, it is NOT easy or maybe not even possible to dry out the interior. Mold is not your friend.
Flooded Tunnels
Doesn't VDOT see the same radar we do? They know when bad weather is coming-even if they miss that clue, why do they wait to have and use the pumps after the fact? As for the comment regarding someone's vehicle/property being damaged, mine was yesterday and it had nothing to do with me going into deep water. I left work early knowing there would be issues. I lost wages, my car was damaged and it took 2 hours to go 25 miles home. I would find a job closer to home, however there isn't much available at this time. VDOT, fix the problems!!!
How is VDOT responsible for
How is VDOT responsible for mother nature's wrath?
Armchair Referees
Leaving work early didn't seem to accomplish what you wanted, did it? Next time stay where your at. You won't loose wages, damage your car, or wait with everyone else who left early to beat the weather. Additionally, the abundance of cars on the interstate makes it more difficult for first responders to do their job and reach the emergencies. People! Stay where your at! By the way, the pumps are wired up and hooked up 24/7 on standby. The radar is not needed for their operation. Like Norfolk's pumps, though, they are no match for 7 inches of rain in a short period of time.
More worried about imaginary health care issues than VDOT
After the incidents at the HRBT and Downtown tunnels, are we still deluding ourselves that a REAL hurricane won't cause a real disaster here. You'll have to fly out...early!!! Yes all the same areas flood all the time making downtown a literal island after every big RAIN (note I didn't say storm). When are our politicians in Richmond going to finally show leadership and put forth a transportation plan that will solve our issues and FUND it. How much did it cost YOU in time, lost productivity, possibly damage to your property for this one event...but oh your gas tax didn't rise....does it matter where the money goes if it comes out of your pocket one way or the other? And oh, for those of you that had their cars damaged, how long will you now go without while it's repaired or replaced? How much will your insurance go up if it covers it? What else was disrupted in your life while you sat in traffic trying to escape a major city, with a major naval base, in broad daylight, at rush hour? The voters are more worked up about imaginary health care issues than they are about REAL traffic issues that affect them every day.
Imaginary health care
Imaginary health care issues?
Since when is the proposal to provide FREE health care to every illegal immigrant in the country an imaginary issue?
Who's responsible?
If you are talking about the flooding in ORF and P-Town, you are misinformed if you think it is VDOT that is responsible for taking care of draining the flood waters. They are responsible for clearing the tubes of the tunnels due to the rain/water; however, the cities are responsible for their own roadways - flooded or otherwise. As for a plan when a REAL hurricane hits - be prepared, if you are not, don't blame the government. Many larger cities have the same problems - just look at the Texas evacuation before Rita. Hello, the government can't fix everyone's lives - I take responsibility for my own safety and have my own plan; if it fails, my problem. As for people's damaged cars - I would surmise that only those who attempted to drive through flooded roads unsuccessfully will have a problem. I did not, my car is fine. Disruptions in life due to weather or inevitable, especially in an area prone to flooding.
To Quote Bill Engvall . . .
. . . "Here's Your Sign!" Do we really need to have signs posted that say, "Warning, Your Car Will Not Operate Under Water!" I think it is mildly humorous that some folks are not bright enough to realize this. What brings more chuckles is when these same people complain about how this has been happening for years, every time it rains. Come on, let's show a little common sense here. I grew up in Newport News and we had one intersection that would flood 2-3 feet deep every time one of these downpours hit. Guess what. When it rains heavy, you don't use that intersection. The really sad part, is that these Dee-de-Dees will be the first ones to contact their insurance company and file an "Act of God" claim to get a new car. Way to go, jacking up rates for the rest of us. Next time, show a little intelligence and patience, and just wait for the water to recede.
Downtown Norfolk floods in
Downtown Norfolk floods in every heavy storm. The only answer is to park and wait. In an hour or two the water will be gone. If you keep driving you will destroy your car, not worth it. The city has spent millions on flood control and pumps and it does not work. We see the same stories about the same places flooding after every heavy storm. In the event of a hurricane if you don't evacuate early before the rain starts you are not leaving this area.
Oddesey Part II
27th and Llewelyn is the only time I felt the tires leave the road.
The rest of the trip over to and up Granby was pretty uneventful. My truck finally coughed and conked out as I turned on my road, but it started right back up. Made it home by 6:15.
In the end:
1) Thank god I own a truck
2) I owe it an oil change
3) Little Japanese cars float
Just a crazy commute home.
My Little Car
My little Japanese car was just fine. We made it from Ocean View to MacArthur Center (at 6:30pm) without a fuss, a "cough", or a sputter. Thank God for well-made vehicles!