Suffolk experiences a "new normal" a year after tornado

SUFFOLK Phyllis Murphy still can't believe that a tornado swept through her antiques shop a year ago, leaving only a few walls standing, including one where a large cross was hanging.

"We lost pretty much everything," said Murphy, 75. "It is almost hard for me to believe that it ever happened."

A year later, Harmony House Antiques in the Driver Village business district is ready to reopen.

The twister that swept through Suffolk on April 28, 2008, was the most devastating natural disaster this southeastern Virginia city has seen in recent history. It left deep scars, but it also spurred a newfound sense of community and gratitude.

Residents are still terrified when dark clouds gather. Some business owners struggle to reopen. Homes in the hard-hit Burnett's Mill development continue to undergo repairs.

Freedom Plaza, on state Route 10 near Sentara Obici Hospital, has been rebuilt from scratch with a $2 million investment, owner Scott Marlowe said. Military recruiters moved back to their office suites this month.

"Things are going back to the new normal," said Phyllis C. Stoneburner, vice president of patient-care services at the hospital, which suffered minimal structural damage. "I think your life is changed by this event. . . . We will always have a heightened awareness about the potential to have tornadoes. We have a new appreciation, an incredible appreciation, for the power of mother nature."

"We have recovered in a very powerful way," said Stoneburner, who was at the hospital when the tornado hit a nearby neighborhood, prompting dozens of residents to seek help and shelter at the medical center.

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Collisions of cold and warm air produced 16 tornadoes in Virginia that April afternoon. The unusual outbreak left about 200 people injured statewide but miraculously caused no deaths.

The twister that struck Suffolk on April 28, 2008, at 4:05 p.m. produced winds approaching 160 mph, becoming the strongest tornado in the commonwealth since one struck the Petersburg-Colonial Heights area in 1993. The 1993 tornado produced winds up to 225 mph and killed four people.

Two Suffolk communities, several miles apart, were devastated as nearly 500 properties took the brunt of the damage, including 168 homes. More than 70 people were injured. An estimated $30 million in damage was reported.

Statewide damages varied from destroyed homes to partial structural damage and destruction to vehicles. Tornadoes outside Suffolk caused nearly $5 million in damage.

The first tornadoes struck at 1:10 a.m. in Halifax County, where six homes were damaged. Tornadoes also touched down in Brunswick, Greensville, Prince George, Southampton, Surry, James City, Isle of Wight, Mathews and Gloucester counties, and in the cities of Portsmouth, Norfolk and Colonial Heights, which was the second most heavily hit area.

The Driver Variety Store, the local hangout in Suffolk, vanished.

An empty lot is all that's left. The chairs that stood outside the store remain, and every so often, people still gather there.

"What is kind of neat is you used to drive by there and you would see these men sitting out in front of the variety store in chairs. Well, the building is gone, but they are still there sitting in the chairs," said Debbie George, a city spokeswoman.

"They keep the spirit going, that's for sure," Mayor Linda T. Johnson said.

The Driver Variety Store was a family business that had been operating since 1910. It had become Driver's most popular hangout, owner Craig Parker, 59, said.

"Luckily, nobody was hurt, but it is kind of hard to lose it after almost 100 years in business," he said. Parker hopes a settlement with his insurance company will lead to the rebuilding of the store this year.

Since the tornado, he has been making his sales outdoors, in the lot.

"It is depressing. It is an empty feeling," he said.

A gift shop in the next block didn't reopen. Instead, the space was converted into a satellite office for the Suffolk Humane Society.

In that same block, Murphy's Harmony House Antiques is getting ready to reopen on Saturday. That day the Driver business community and residents will mark a new beginning they are calling "Driver Alive," a celebration of their recuperation.

"I don't think we are back to normal, but we have made giant steps toward recovery," said Murphy. The big cross left standing, she said, was a reassurance that Driver would move on.

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Eight miles away, at the newly rebuilt Freedom Plaza on Route 10, Army recruiter Sgt. Alisia Talley, still avoids talking about April 28 event and said she has mixed feelings about working again at Freedom Plaza.

She was at the Army office when a dark cloud headed toward the building and within seconds knocked down the structure. Talley found shelter under her desk and made it to safety with a few injuries.

This month, the U.S. military recruiters moved back. Other businesses are moving in the next few weeks. The Nail Salon, which had just opened, is not returning.

Marlowe, owner of the plaza property, said he is hopeful all 15 units will be rented within months and also plans a community celebration in May.

A few yards from Freedom Plaza, Jennifer Knobel's home is now fully repaired. The house at Burnetts Court needed windows, a roof and siding replacement after the tornado. She said a year later, she now keeps insurance information handy and is in constant communication with neighbors.

"I am fine until a storm comes up. Then I get really nervous," she said.

Overall, good things came out of the storm, said Johnson, the mayor. She cites closer neighbors and a deeper appreciation of life.

"A year later, I say the same thing I said the day it happened: We were blessed, we lost no lives, [had] no real serious injuries and what better can you ask than to lose no human life," Johnson said.

Contact Luz Lazo at (804) 649-6058 or llazo@timesdispatch.com.