PETERSBURG, Va. — Thirty-three years ago, on Aug. 6, 1993, an F4 tornado carved a path of destruction across the Tri-Cities region that many who lived through it say they will never forget.
The tornado did not strike just one location. It cut through Petersburg's Old Town, crossed into Colonial Heights — where it tore through a Walmart — then moved into Prince George County, struck an apartment complex in Hopewell, and ultimately crossed Interstate 64 into Henrico County. For years, a visible scar remained along I-64, and pieces of tin could be seen near Colonial Heights.
The human toll was significant. Dozens of people were injured at the Colonial Heights Walmart, and three people lost their lives there. In Prince George County, a worker was killed at a construction site the tornado struck. Pocahontas Island sustained heavy damage, though no one there was killed — something many who were present still describe as remarkable.
CBS 6 Senior Reporter Wayne Covil was on the scene within minutes of the tornado touching down and has covered the story every year since. On the 33rd anniversary, he returned to the corner of Old Street and Sycamore in Petersburg — the site of the triage area that day — to reflect on what he witnessed.
"It's just always a day that you don't forget," Covil said.
Covil was in his office in the Alrod Building in Petersburg when the tornado struck. He said the heavy back doors of the building began shaking violently.
"I grabbed my gear. Back in 1993, that was two-piece gear that weighed about 70 pounds. The tape deck on the left shoulder, the camera on the right," Covil said.
He credited his first television news director, Roy Hardy, with advice that stuck with him.
"Anything ever happens, press that button, and you never let go," Covil said, recalling Hardy's words. "And that's what I did."
Covil ran from the Alrod Building down to just about the Dixie, where police cars and a Southside Virginia Emergency Crew ambulance came through with sirens blaring. He said it was not just the emergency sirens that stood out.
"It wasn't just the sirens off emergency vehicles. It was all the old timey burglar alarms were all going off, and just destruction everywhere," Covil said.
With no cell phones available in 1993, Covil found a payphone beside the Dixie and called the station. News director Elliot Weiser had one instruction.
"I don't care how you get here. I don't care if you drive through ditches. You get that tape here," Covil said, recalling Weiser's words.
He made it to I-95 across the Enon Bridge — where a trucker whose vehicle had been overturned later said he looked up and saw a wall of water — and got the footage back to the station.
WATCH: Wayne's first live report after tornado struck
The corner of Old Street and Sycamore became a triage area for Southside Virginia Emergency Crew. Sofas from a furniture store that had been kept on the front sidewalk had blown down to that corner. Nearby, police and bystanders dug people out of the rubble outside what had been the French Betsy restaurant, next to the Iron Works.
Among those Covil interviewed that day was Harry Jones, who had been asleep in a bed on the third floor of a building. The wall beside Jones' bed was gone, and the bed itself was hanging off the edge.
Covil also recalled a woman named Mary, who owned a gift store, not knowing whether her employees upstairs were alive.
"She didn't know if her employees upstairs were alive or dead because the roof had come off and collapsed," Covil said. "It was unreal."
A young woman cleaning an apartment on Bank Street sensed something was wrong and got into a closet. The wall behind her collapsed, dropping her from the third floor to the roof of the two-story building next door. She survived. A man named Gene Whitfield had come to the area and was lying in his work van when the tornado hit. The windows blew out as the van rocked around him. He survived as well.
Families of people injured at the Walmart, and drivers trapped on I-95 with no cell phones, had no way to reach anyone.
"The people trapped on 95 with no cell phones couldn't talk to anyone and say, 'Hey, I'm okay,'" Covil said. "Just unbelievable."
Fort Lee and Chesterfield responded to Colonial Heights and the Walmart, while people in Petersburg wondered where their help was. Covil said no one initially realized that everyone north of the Appomattox River had gone to the Walmart, not fully grasping the scope of what had happened in Petersburg.
On Pocahontas Island, the damage was severe, and Covil said the survival of everyone there still stands out.
"It was just, if not more amazing that no one got killed on Pocahontas Island as much damage as they had," Covil said.
In the weeks that followed, the Mennonite community from Stuarts Draft came to Pocahontas Island, rebuilt a church, and put roofs on many homes.
"The Mennonite community really, really made a big impact," Covil said. "They were there for a long time."
CBS 6 and Channel 8 came together to hold a telethon that raised a couple hundred thousand dollars for people who had lost everything. Residents of Old Town were without power and gas for an extended period. Governor Doug Wilder came to the area, and the CBS Evening News ran footage of the Walmart.
One lasting change that came out of the disaster was a significant investment in inter-operable communications systems for police, fire and EMS. Before the tornado, two-way radio systems across different localities were not compatible.
"Out of that was money spent, taxpayer money spent, to make it so that police, fire, EMS could talk to each other, so everyone was on the same page, and there's no doubt that that has saved lives," Covil said.
Colonial Heights also became one of the most weather-aware communities in the Tri-Cities. The city now has four outdoor warning sirens that sound during tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings.
"The people who complain about them are not the people that lived through the tornado," Covil said.
Covil said those who survived the tornado — in Petersburg, Hopewell, and Colonial Heights — pay attention to the weather in a way others do not.
"If you lived through the tornado or lived here, Hopewell, Colonial Heights, you pay attention to the weather. There's just no ifs, ands, and buts," Covil said.
Many of the people who were part of that day have since passed, including Scrappy Crowder, a Petersburg police officer Covil remembered fondly, and Kay Ray, who survived the tornado, rebuilt her store Creations Unlimited, and passed away just a few weeks ago.
"Kay Ray was absolutely amazing lady, truly an amazing lady," Covil said.
Covil has covered the story for 33 years — every major anniversary, every business that opened or closed in the recovery, every follow-up. He said the experience is unlike any other story in his career.
"I've had no story that continued for 33 years that you always were doing something," Covil said. "It is burned into my memory."
Standing at the corner of Old and Sycamore streets on the anniversary, Covil said the location still brings it all back.
"I look down Old Street, and I'm just amazed at what it looked like 33 years ago," Covil said. "You just don't forget where you were, what you were doing."
He closed with a message for anyone who remembers that day — or is hearing about it for the first time.
"You go home and you hug your loved ones and make sure they know, because you just don't ever know when the sky is going to turn dark," Covil said.
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