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Storms damaged homes and businesses throughout the region overnight.
UPDATE: The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado is responsible for the damage in Stafford last night. The impact area was said to be from roughly the Cornerstone Baptist Church to just south of the airport.
The county is opening a Customer Service Center tomorrow from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Berea Fire Station at 20 Sebring Way off Litchfield Boulevard. There will be information on repairs, permits and utilities available for affected residents. County officials promise to speed up the permits process for residents of England Run North subdivision. The Red Cross and the Salvation Army are assisting those whose homes sustained damage. The mood at the shelter is one of relief - that no one was seriously hurt. One resident of Foggy Field Road, Peter Ortell, said his family is moving out of the neighborhood at the end of the month: To Kansas. - Keith Epps
BY KEITH EPPS, ELLEN BILTZ AND PETE CIHELKA
Jeff and Janice Leonard spent the morning of their 33rd wedding anniversary in the gym of T. Benton Gayle Middle School. Catherine Gagnon turned 13 today not knowing when she would be able to sleep in her own bed again. These southern Stafford County residents were among those displaced when a storm system packing howling winds passed through the Fredericksburg area last night. Officials said dozens of homes and businesses were damaged. But there were no reports of major injuries, officials said, and only one of a minor injury—apparently Jeff Leonard’s son, Andrew. Jeff Leonard was asleep in the couple’s second-story bedroom at 89 Limestone Way when he was awakened by his wife. They looked out the window to see trees in their back yard bent over. Then their windows began to flex inward and outward. “That’s when I said, 'Get downstairs,' ” Jeff Leonard said. “There was no time to get scared. There was just time to save yourself.” Janice Leonard went to the basement while her husband went to warn their son, who was in his room playing computer games. “I looked out and saw all the rain,” Andrew Leonard said. “Then the drawers in my dresser began moving in and out. I went to push them back in and that’s when [the storm] hit. Everything just started disappearing.” The roof was blown off and the second-floor walls collapsed on the father and son. They managed to push the debris off themselves and made it downstairs to locate Janice. Jeff was taken to Mary Washington Hospital with a gash to the back of his head that required 10 staples to close it. This morning, all Jeff had at a shelter set up at Gayle for those displaced by storm damage were the hospital scrubs he was discharged with and two left shoes Janice managed to grab for him in the chaos. Stafford Fire Lt. Mark Stone, one of numerous emergency workers at the scene last night, estimated that between 50 and 60 homes in that area were affected by the storm. He said about a dozen were damaged badly enough that the families could not live in them until repairs are made.
Read more stories about Stafford Date published: 5/9/2008
to allow school to continue today at Gayle Middle while being open as a shelter and as an area for fire/rescue folks. I noticed people coming and going out of the front as well as the side doors by the 6th grade hallway and the library doors all day. My daughter is an 8th grader and she said their were strangers all around the school all day long. Made me a bit uncomfortable. I dunno
My parents live just 5 minutes from there. A close friend of our family had his roof and part of his second floor torn off. There was significant damage all throughout England Run.I drove through the area and there was also some serious problems off of Truslow Road as well. Hope everyone will be back on track soon.
I got stuck at work (I work at Intuit up on 17 next to the most heavy damage) until 11 or so, something hit our building hard enough to shake it. Needless to say, I wake up this morning and find out that less than 1/8 of a mile, there was tremendous damage....
Now they are saying it was a tornado in Stafford. Started about 100-150 yards north of my company's yard off McWhirt Loop. Must have been skipping about, WaWa wasn't too torn up nor was the Post Office. Hope everyone gets back on their feet quickly.
The storm hit where I work at Kaeser Compressors and the damage is very upseting. The inside is flooded and the beautiful landscaping that we all were so proud of is gone. Kaeser definitely got hit really hard. There was another company right down the street that got it really bad. My prayers go out to all the families and the other businesses that were hit.
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