I took Storm Chaser 7 to the scene early this morning during Good Morning Washington to report live, witness the damage first hand and speak with homeowners.  To give you an idea of the worst damage, imagine a single family home made of vinyl siding and and some brick.  Now, imagine the roof and exterior walls of the second floor completely removed from the house and thrown around the neighborhood like a child tossing Legos.  All that's left of the entire upper level is tattered interior walls, furniture, plumbing, and personal belongings. 

That is a rough description of what two homes looked like in the England Run subdivision in Stafford, VA after a potential tornado ripped through the neighborhood.  This area was hardest hit where roofs were lifted, walls were blown out, cars were on lawns, patio furniture was mangled, windows were shattered, and mailboxes were thrown around and nearly flattened.  In one of the most severely damaged homes I found part of an interior wall of a kids room (on the upper level) that was thrown across the street (opposite storm movement) and onto a driveway two houses down.  Vinyl siding, shingles, lumber, mailboxes, potted plants, and other objects became flying projectiles.  Lumber from the roof of one house looks to have been lifted and thrown across the street (opposite of storm movement) and impaled through the siding of a neighbor's house.  I found a 2 x 4 sticking out of the wall of a babies room on the second floor of a home with other wooden boards and 2 x 4s strewn about the roof and yard.   We received preliminary reports of minor injuries but no fatalities...luckily.

This particular storm first developed around Charlottesville, VA at approximately 9pm and moved northeast through Spotsylvania County then into Stafford around 10:30pm.  The local National Weather Service office issued a severe thunderstorm warning around 9:40pm, and Shortly afterwards, a tornado warning was issued for several counties.  Fortunately, many people heard the warning, which is largely due to the woman mentioned above having a NOAA Weather Radio.  As a matter of fact, her family has several weather radios and first heard of the potential danger through the device.  Once the warning was issued, she called her neighbors to alert them, and she immediately took her family into their basement.  Other neighbors, whom I spoke with, received warnings through local media.

One reason I mention this story is to illustrate the importance of owning a NOAA Weather Radio.  We don't have a network of tornado sirens in the Midatlantic, so the best ways to obtain severe weather warnings are through local media and especially weather radios.  If a severe thunderstorm or tornado strikes at night while you're sleeping, the only way to hear of the pending danger is through a NOAA Weather Radio, which will automatically alert and sound an alarm even if turned off. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: The National Weather Service is surveying the damage today (5/09) and will determine if in fact there was a tornado, and if so, how strong it was on the Enhanced "F" Scale.  If you ask me, judging by the damage, storm movement, and orientation of damage, it was a tornado (maybe EF2), but I'm not as skilled and trained in surveying damage as the folks at the NWS.  Their preliminary report should be out later today or tomorrow.