Virginia Beach battered by Irene's winds

After a daylong pummeling by Hurricane Irene's battering winds, drenching rains and a possible spinoff tornado, the Hampton Roads region braced for a possibly historic storm surge as high tide approached Saturday night.

Officials warned Saturday afternoon that residents would experience the worst of the storm by nightfall and should stay put until conditions let up.

"We have been advised by the National Weather Service to expect flooding worse than what we experienced with Isabel," said Norfolk spokeswoman Lori Crouch, referring to the devastating 2003 hurricane.

Much of the population of Norfolk and Virginia Beach, from residents who sought emergency shelter to those who never thought the storm would bring devastation, had gotten off the roads by Saturday evening and were waiting to see what Irene would do.

By late in the day, more than 1,200 people in Norfolk and Virginia Beach had taken refuge in emergency shelters. Hundreds of thousands were without power across the region.

Virginia Beach spokesman Tim Riley said the storm and high tide could bring historic flooding for an estimated 59,000 people who live in areas such as the Lynnhaven basin.

He said he doubted the flooding would be catastrophic, however.

"I don't want it to sound like homes are going to be swallowed up," Riley said. "But it could reach the foundation of the houses."

In Sandbridge, a possible tornado blew roofs off five homes, but no one was inside at the time, officials said. Sandbridge was under mandatory evacuation orders, but some residents stayed behind anyway.

Alexis Bowen, 19, a server at a local restaurant, stayed at the Sandbridge home of her friend's parents, passing the time playing Twister and "Just Dance" on Nintendo Wii. A willow tree fell on the property, but otherwise the afternoon had gone smoothly.

"We're just hanging out," Bowen said. "The house was shaken a couple times. The power has gone out a couple times, but it always comes on within a few minutes."

Others seemed even less concerned. The storm drew dozens of thrill seekers to the Virginia Beach Boardwalk on Saturday morning, including a family who posed outside a boarded-up Dairy Queen on unsteady feet in the powerful winds, and Juan Hernandez, a 27-year-old Beach resident who waded into the water.

"How many other people can say they were on the oceanfront for a hurricane?" Hernandez said.

Then there were Crae Kalista and his two roommates, who, after a night of partying, drank energy drinks for breakfast and appeared in bathing suits on the beach in sideways rain and wind gusts of up to 50 mph.

Kalista waded into the crashing waves about waist high with his roommate Joseph Lacy. "It's really warm water," said Kalista, 20, after the swim. "The current's not as bad as I thought it would be."

"It's no worse than getting caught in a riptide," said Lacy, a 21-year-old surfer.

In Norfolk, two people and a cat were rescued Saturday morning from a sailboat that got into trouble in the Chesapeake Bay off 9th View Street in Ocean View, Norfolk fire Battalion Chief Harry Worley said.

The couple, who were not identified, had dropped anchor about 150 yards offshore last night while traveling to Annapolis, Md., Worley said.

The wind and waves put the boat in jeopardy, and rescue swimmers had to wait for the vessel to wash onto the beach before they could safely extract its occupants, Worley said.

The couple were examined at the scene and taken to a shelter.

The scene drew a crowd of onlookers to the area, which was among those under mandatory evacuation orders. Carolyn LeCroy, who had decided to ride out the storm in her apartment, watched the rescue scene from her porch.

"I felt bad for the cat," LeCroy said by phone Saturday evening. "That poor cat must have been terrified."

She said the storm had washed away a lot of sand but that flooding hadn't gotten too bad near her second-floor apartment. "We're going to have high tide here soon," she said. "It's going to cause a lot of flooding."