VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WRIC) — Nearly a year after a rare EF-3 tornado hit the Great Neck neighborhood of Virginia Beach, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management is taking a look back at both the damage and the emergency response.
On April 30, 2023, the Something In The Water music festival was taking place along the Oceanfront, where many emergency crews were located.
As a storm began forming that day, meteorologists from the National Weather Service in Wakefield were deployed to the Great Neck area to convene with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
According to the National Weather Service, the tornado formed over the eastern branch of the Lynnhaven River in Virginia Beach just before 6 p.m. A tornado alert was then issued to the community.
The tornado progressed up River Road as an EF-1, passing by the Great Neck Recreation Center, and then increased to an EF-2 intensity, as it moved into the Chelsea neighborhood.
The service said the tornado then continued onto Haversham Close with EF-3 intensity. Several homes in the area were shifted off their foundations and roofs and upper walls were completely removed.
The tornado then crossed Broad Bay and the eastern portion of Bay Island, clipping Windward Shore Drive as an EF-1, according to the service.
It then moved over First Landing State Park and into the Fort Story as an EF-1, where it snapped trees, damaged barracks, and damaged several other builds before moving offshore.
A spokesperson for the Department of Emergency Management said emergency crews relocated from the festival to the Great Neck area to assist community members.
About 115 homes were damaged, according to the City of Virginia Beach. Vehicles were overturned and boats were sunk and moved.
A spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management said the estimated peak winds of the tornado were 145 mph.
Despite the damage, there were no deaths and no injuries.