April 17, 2011 – RALEIGH, NC — The three-day death toll stemming from severe weather in the southeast rose to 30 after a Virginia official on Sunday confirmed that four people were killed in violent storms that swept across the state. Three Gloucester County residents died and 64 suffered injuries from the fast-moving storms in eastern Virginia on Saturday, according to Bob Spieldenner, director of public affairs for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. A tornado also ripped the roof off a school in the county, felled trees that blocked multiple roads and severed power lines, leaving 9,300 people without electricity, according to Spieldenner. In the Shenandoah Valley, on the opposite side of the state, a child died after being swept away in a flash flood, according to the National Weather Service. Spieldenner said authorities rescued another flood victim, but a third is missing. In North Carolina, severe weather killed nine people on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. “Today’s outbreak of severe weather in North Carolina is quite unusual because of the intensity and frequency of tornadoes,” said CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. “This doesn’t happen very often in this part of the country.” Gov. Bev Perdue declared a state of emergency for the entire state, according to the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management. The service said more than 100 twisters have been spotted across the region during the recent storms. In South Carolina, a tornado cut through Berkeley County, destroying a church and injuring six people, the weather service said. “We’re expecting large violent tornadoes that are going to stay on the ground for a long period of time,” said Jeras. “This is a high-risk day,” she added. “We only get a handful of days like this every year.” -CNN MSNBC reports 24 deaths in North Carolina alone.
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