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 Gov. Tim Kaine has declared a state of emergency in some areas. He will be touring the hardest hit regions today.
Three tornadoes smashed homes and businesses and tossed cars. A meteorologist describes one of the twisters as a "major tornado."
One woman rode out the storm by hiding in a cubbyhole in her house with her two young girls. She says the tornado that hit three blocks away sounded like "someone shuffling a giant deck of cards."
About 70 people were treated at one hospital. Most of the injuries were minor.
Russ McCrocklin has been through it all before. When Hurricane Ivan hit Florida a few years ago, he had to wait until the next day to see if he would have a home to return to. His house was fine then, but McCrocklin fears he won't be so lucky this time around.
McCrocklin and others will assess damage to their homes and businesses today.
The twister in this city outside Norfolk cut a fickle, zigzagging path 25 miles long through neighborhoods, obliterating some homes and spraying splintered wood across lawns while leaving those standing just a few feet away untouched.
Keith Godwin lives in the same neighborhood as McCrocklin. He, his wife and two kids took shelter in the bathroom of their home after he looked out the window and saw the funnel cloud.
The Godwins' home is fine except for some debris, as are the rest of those on their side of the street. Those across the street were badly damaged, including two houses completely wiped off their foundations and one that was tossed on top of another home.
"All that's left is a concrete slab," Godwin said.
Insulation, wiring and twisted metal hung from the front of a mall stripped bare of its facing. At another store, the tin roof was rolled up like a sardine can. Some of the cars and SUVs in the parking lot were on top of others.
"It's just a bunch of broken power poles, telephone lines and sad faces," said Richard Allbright, who works for a tree removal service in Driver and had been out for hours trying to clear the roads.
The National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes struck Suffolk, Brunswick County, about sixty miles west, and Colonial Heights, about 60 miles northwest. Meteorologist Bryan Jackson described Suffolk's as a "major tornado."
The Brunswick County tornado was estimated at 86 mph to 110 mph, and cut a 300-yard path of destruction, Jackson said. It struck first, at about 1 p.m., said Mike Rusnak, a weather service meteorologist in Wakefield.
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 The second struck Colonial Heights around 3:40 p.m., he said.
The tornado believed to have caused damage over a 25-mile path from Suffolk to Norfolk touched down repeatedly between 4:30 and 5 p.m., Rusnak said.
At least 200 were injured in Suffolk and 18 others were injured in Colonial Heights, south of Richmond, said Bob Spieldenner of the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
Jennifer Haines and her two young girls hid in a cubbyhole in the interior of her house in Suffolk. The tornado hit about three blocks away.
"It sounded like someone shuffling a giant deck of cards or a herd of wild animals coming through. You could feel the house shaking and hear the wind coming in through the cracks in the windows," Haines said.
"It was so scary I felt like I was having a heart attack."
Sentara hospital spokesman Dale Gauding said about 70 injured people were being treated there. Three were admitted and were in fair condition.
"We have lots of cuts and bruises" and arm and leg injuries, he said. The hospital's windows were cracked, apparently by debris from a damaged shopping center across the street.
Property damage also was reported in Brunswick County, one of several localities where the weather service had issued a tornado warning. Sgt. Michelle Cotten of the Virginia State Police said a twister destroyed two homes. Trees and power lines were down, and some flooding was reported.
About 3,000 Dominion Virginia Power customers remained without service Monday night, mostly in the Northern Neck.
[Associated
Press; By DESMOND BUTLER]
Associated Press writers Dena Potter and Larry O'Dell contributed to this report from Richmond.
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