1:45 p.m.
NORFOLK (AP) — Heavy rain and high wind from a coastal storm made the morning commute miserable today in southeastern Virginia, with drivers scrambling to find alternate routes to avoid intersections filled with pooled water and stalled cars.
On the Peninsula, Fort Monroe and Langley Air Force Base told only mission-essential personnel to report for work today because of the potential for flooding.
At Langley, where the flight line is only 11 feet above sea level, workers placed sandbags around buildings with a history of flooding and waterproofed computers and electrical equipment.
Poquoson Public Schools closed, and the Midtown Tunnel between Norfolk and Portsmouth was shut down because of high water.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Portsmouth police spokeswoman Ann Hope said as she watched the water rise in front of her home. “A while back a car tried to go through the intersection and the wake was so strong it lifted up and moved vehicles onto the sidewalk.”
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel reported sustained winds of 50-60 mph with gusts of up to 65 mph. Officials restricted the types of vehicles that cross the span between Virginia Beach and the Eastern Shore basically to cars and pickup trucks.
“With winds gusting to 65 mph, that’s right powerful,” said Patricia Sumners, a switchboard operator at the bridge-tunnel. “You get out there on the bay in a high-profile SUV, you better keep both hands on the wheel.”
Wind gusts reaching 50 mph battered Norfolk’s Ocean View neighborhood, also on the Chesapeake Bay.
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