UPDATE: High tide pushes flooding to severe level

RICHMOND, Va. — Swollen by rain and pushed by heavy winds, an evening high tide in Hampton Roads produced the worst flooding in coastal Virginia since Hurricane Isabel hit in 2003, the National Weather Service said tonight.

State police, meantime, reported three fatalities linked to the deluge across Virginia. The victims included a Smithfield woman whose children ages 3 and 6 suffered life-threatening injuries an Isle of Wight County crash.

On the coast, the storm added 3 to 5 feet to the normal high tide, said Chris Wamsley, a weather service forecaster in Wakefield said.

“It’s severe flooding, comparable to Isabel,“ Wamsley said.

In terms of storm surge and coastal flooding, this is a historic storm, Wamsley said.

A similar storm surge should come tomorrow morning with the next high tide, he said.

That will cause more problems across southeastern Virginia, where heavy rain flooded streets and highways, made much of Portsmouth and Hampton impassable, shut down the port of Hampton Roads and prompted some residents to seek shelter from their inundated homes.

The National Weather Service reported rain totals from noon Tuesday to noon today, including: 7.15 inches in Portsmouth; nearly 7 inches in Virginia Beach; 6.76 inches in Newport News; 5.4 inches in Norfolk; 4.31 inches in Sussex County; 4.01 inches at the Hanover County airport; and 3.41 inches in eastern Henrico County.

Across the state, high water was also a problem in the Roanoke and New River valleys; schools closed in Franklin County, where flooding blocked three of four lanes of U.S. 220, a major north-south artery.

In Southwest Virginia, the storm generally dropped 2 to 5 inches of rain and up to 8 inches in places, said Dennis Sleighter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Blacksburg.

In Danville, the rapidly rising Dan River reached 23.3 feet this afternoon. Flood stage is 17 feet. The river is expected to crest overnight at 26.4 feet.

“We’re looking for pretty significant flooding there,“ Sleighter said. Severe flooding also was expected along the Dan in South Boston.

The Richmond region dealt mostly with localized flooding and slick roads, which were a factor in numerous wrecks. Two area school systems shut down their after-school and evening activities.

More than 100 roads in Hampton Roads and the Roanoke and New River Valleys were closed because of flooding, the Virginia Department of Transportation said. Another two dozen primary roads and more than 150 secondary roads were closed in Hampton Roads alone.

In Hampton this afternoon, some people in low-lying areas were being evacuated in boats, state officials said.

A drenching rain has left many sections of Norfolk under several inches to several feet of water. Emergency coordinators are fearful the flooding will only get worse as waters from high tide swell the two rivers that dissect the city plus areas along the bay. Winds gusting to 30 mph also are swelling rivers with more water.

Residents began trickling into three shelters that had been set up. Norfolk officials have offered free parking in garages downtown for people whose neighborhoods are flooded.

Dominion Virginia Power reported almost 78,000 customers without power in southeastern Virginia; in the Richmond region, about 4,200 lacked electricity. On the Northern Neck, approximately 2,600 contributed to the state total of about 85,500 for the utility.

The heaviest impact of the storm appeared to be on the southeast coast, where the Coast Guard closed the Port of Hampton Roads.

The foul weather even affected the military. Navy officials required only essential personnel at the Norfolk Naval Station, Oceana Naval Air Station and the rest of its Hampton Roads installations, according to a spokeswoman. The Army’s Fort Eustis in Newport News and the Langley Air Force Base in Hampton are following similar plans through Friday, according to officials at both bases.

Across the region, Norfolk’s Midtown Tunnel was closed by the Virginia Department of Transportation and to the west, the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry ceased operations. Old Dominion University in Norfolk canceled classes and many school systems closed.

The problems were produced by a coastal nor’easter fueled with moisture from the remains of Tropical Storm Ida. The storm stretched from North Carolina to New Jersey.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine declared a state of emergency Wednesday and officials urged people in some areas to stay home. Rain and resulting floods were predicted to continue at least through Friday, especially along the state’s southeastern coast.

Mari Rosadson, who works at the front desk of the Marriott Waterside in downtown Norfolk, said she and her friend encountered standing water during a commute that took twice as long as usual.

“We made it through fine, thank God,” she said.

Virginia Department of Emergency Management spokesman Bob Spieldenner said his agency received reports of a few Hampton Roads residents being rescued from their cars after getting stuck in high water.

“Each high tide is going to be worse, because the water’s going to keep building,” Spieldenner said.

The rain hasn’t caused any flooding in Richmond’s traditional high-water hot spots in Shockoe Bottom and Battery Park, where the city has almost completed major improvements to the storm drainage system since flooding in 2004 and 2006, respectively.

Public Utilities Director Christopher A. Beschler said today that some city streets have flooded because of fallen leaves clogging the storm sewers. However, Beschler said the intensity of the rain isn’t great enough to overwhelm the drainage system and cause significant flooding.

“The intensity is what we worry about, not the total rainfall,” he said.

A flood watch for the Richmond region remains in effect today, with the weather service calling for total rainfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches through 6 p.m.

Locally higher amounts are possible, and the weather service said the rainfall may cause flooding of creeks and small streams throughout the day.

Minor river flooding is expected this weekend.

The weather service said the water level at the James River’s Westham Gauge in Richmond, measured at 5.46 feet this morning, is expected to crest at 13.9 feet at 1 a.m. Saturday. Flood stage at Westham is 12 feet.

The storm should move off to the east tomorrow or Saturday. Brandon Swedlund, a meteorologist with Weather Central Inc., a private weather service in Madison, Wisc. “It’s going to be very slow,” he said.

Attorney General Bill Mims, meantime, noted today that Virginia’s anti-price gouging statute is in effect. The law prohibits the charging of “unconscionable” prices for “necessary goods and services.”

Virginia State Police headquarters provided summaries of the day’s fatal accidents:

The first wreck occurred about 4:35 a.m. after a driver whose pickup truck collided with a fallen tree was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer on state Route 56 in Nelson County.

Alger H. Fleming, 66, of Amherst was killed after he left his vehicle to inspect his damaged pickup. Police said he was struck by an eastbound tractor-trailer that swerved to avoid hitting Fleming’s pickup about 1.8 miles west of state Route 655. No charges will be filed, police said.

Nearly four hours later, a Massachusetts woman was killed and three others were injured in a single-vehicle crash on U.S. 13 in Northampton County on the Eastern Shore.

The 8:11 a.m. wreck occurred when a southbound car carrying all four occupants ran off the road and into the median, briefly entered the northbound lanes and then veered back into the median before overturning several times about one-tenth of a mile south of state Route 688.

A passenger, identified as Yesenia Rivera, 30, of Waltham, Mass., was ejected and died at the scene. The driver and two other passengers were taken to Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

Police said Rivera wasn’t wearing a safety belt. The other occupants were all restrained. The wreck remains under investigation.

About 15 minutes later, a Smithfield woman was killed and two others were injured when their car collided head-on with a tractor-trailer on state Route 258 in Isle of Wight County. The driver, Amy C. Pippin, 26, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The wreck occurred just after 8:30 a.m. when Pippin, traveling south, attempted to pass a vehicle in front of her and collided with the northbound tractor-trailer, just north of state Route 652. Pippin’s two children, ages 3 and 6, were airlifted to Norfolk Sentra Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

The tractor-trailer driver was taken to Obici Hospital in Suffolk with non-life threatening injuries. All parties were wearing safety belts, police said.

The tractor-trailer was carrying a load of livestock and several animals were killed in the crash. No charges will be filed in the wreck, police said.

(The Associated Press and Times-Dispatch staff writers Rex Springston, Mark Bowes, Michael Martz and Joe Macenka contributed to this report.)