RICHMOND, Va. -- The storms that rolled through Central Virginia on Friday damaged homes, caused power outages and prompted emergency highway repairs.
"I haven't seen nothing with winds this bad and that quick in a long time," Austin, a resident of Prince George, said.
He recalled being awakened by the sound of heavy rain and hail hitting his home.
"It sounded like complete gunfire going off," he said.
Once the storm ended and he was able to go outside, Austin said he realized the strength of the storm.
"We have a couple holes on the siding from the hail, the car was damaged, the trunk," he said.
A large tree branch fell on his car and limbs covered the car of a visiting friend.
"It was two cars here, but one is hidden," Austin said.
In Colonial Heights, Jaelyn Furey said the storm came in quickly and caused a tree to fall on her house.
"Praying that there’s not a lot of houses damaged, but thankful that when we saw it, it didn’t go through the house," she said.
A similar account coming from resident Gary Bonner in Chesterfield.
"The wind started picking up, and all of a sudden a big clap of thunder hit and that was it," Bonner said. "I saw the trucks out there trying to clean the road and that's when I came out and saw I had a big tree across my yard."
The storms developed ahead of a front coming through Virgina and triggered several thunderstorm warnings across the state.
People living in the area said it would take the help of the community to repair the mess the storms left. Despite the blocked roads and damaged property, they said they’re glad their loved ones were safe.
"My driveway is good, my house is good, nobody was hurt so I was very happy that everything ended up ok," said Bronner.
Around 15,000 Dominion Energy customers remained without power Friday night in Central Virginia, down from more than 30,000 right after the storm blew through.
To report an outage or damage to wires you can call 1-866-366-4357 or 1-866-366-4357 for downed wires and damaged equipment.
Depend on CBS 6 News and WTVR.com for in-depth coverage of this important local story. Anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
EAT IT, VIRGINIA restaurant news and interviews
