RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) -- Mother Nature packing a powerful punch Monday afternoon. The Richmond Metro area was hard hit by a strong storm that left more than 140,000 people in the dark overnight. By Tuesday morning as the sun began to light the area, it was still lights out for residents and businesses throughout Central Virginia.
Gary Stevens who works at the International Mission Board-SBC, in Richmond was also affected by Mother Nature's fury. An uprooted tree destroyed a power line and left the business without electricity.
"I was really amazed," said International Mission Board manager Gary Stevens. "I'd gotten the word from a phone call last night, we were going to be closed tonight because we didn't have power. But I had no idea this tree was down and blocking the whole intersection here."
Across town, at Gaskins Road stop lights were also left without power, creating dangerous driving conditions for some motorists.
"Sometimes people won`t yield and they will just assume the person in front of them, since they went, that it's safe to proceed," said Henrico Police Lt. Linda Toney. "But you do want to make sure that you stop and that you don't move forward with the flow of traffic."
Lt. Toney says too often drivers will go through malfunctioning lights without even slowing down. But until the numerous stop lights are repaired, it is imperative to stop before you go in order to avoid any further destruction in the aftermath of the storm.
Restorations are also in full swing at the Diamond baseball stadium. The director of media for the Richmond Flying Squirrels Minor League Baseball team, Anthony Oppermann, said repairs are also underway to fix the stadium hard hit by Monday's storm. Oppermann said everything should be in working order, in time for the July 4 home game.
