‘It’s a lot of damage’: Virginians deal with fallen trees and widespread outages after severe storms

POWHATAN COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Hours after severe thunderstorms swept through Central Virginia, on Monday, March 16, many homeowners spent their morning assessing the damage left behind.

“It’s definitely something crazy. We never had nothing like this before,” said Taylor Hartley, who lives in the Ruther Glen neighborhood of Caroline County.

Heavy rain and high-speed winds brought down trees and knocked out power in communities across the region. At the height of the outage, nearly 47,000 Central Virginia homes and businesses were without power. By 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17 that figure dwindled to around 1,700 customers without power.

Hartley said he didn't expect the thunderstorms to have much of an impact, and was startled the moment he heard a large tree slam into his front yard.

Fallen tree crashed onto golf cart in Caroline County. (Photo: 8News)

Uprooted trees damages part of homeowner's fence in Powhatan. (Photo: 8News)

“We didn’t think we were going to get much, and it was probably about 8:30, and we heard a loud crack, and then all of a sudden the tree comes down, lost power and came out and saw the tree on the house, on the golf cart, everything,” Hartley said.

Hartley said his home did not suffer structural damage, but he was without power for several hours after the storm moved through the area.

Crews were seen working to restore power in parts of Caroline County, and nearby Hanover County, where significant outages were also reported. In Ashland, crews worked near an uprooted tree that blocked part of Northwest Henry Lane.

Uprooted tree blocked part of Northwest Henry Lane in Ashland. (Photo: 8News)

In Powhatan County, cleanup efforts were also underway.

“This is like a third one done today,” said Keith Collins, owner of Collins Tree Service.

Collins said he and his crews were busy removing uprooted trees from homes along Judes Ferry Road.

“It’s a lot of damage," he said. "Trees have come down, some uprooted because it’s been so rainy, but a lot of trees got rotten holes in them and they break off and split."

Collins said the damage is a reminder that homeowners should remove weak and hazardous trees before a storm.

Powhatan County Fire and Rescue reported receiving about 70 calls during the storm. Officials said the calls were for downed trees falling onto homes and blocking roads. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.

Several roads remained closed for much of the day, putting people’s patience to the test.

“It’s definitely going to be a process getting them moved up out of here,” Hartley said.