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The damage caused last week in Northampton County from a passing storm was due to straight line winds.

That’s the official report from the National Weather Service Office in Wakefield, VA, according to Northampton County Fire Marshal Chris Collier.

Collier said it was originally believed that a tornado caused damage in the Henrico area of the county on Friday, May 16.

“The National Weather Service told us there was no evidence of a tornado. They said it was straight line winds from a severe thunderstorm,” Collier said.

Straight line winds are described as strong, non-rotating winds associated with thunderstorms, often caused by downdrafts. They can cause significant damage and are frequently confused with tornadoes due to similar damage patterns. Straight-line winds, including downbursts, are a common source of wind damage, reaching speeds of 100-150 mph.

Collier said the report from Henrico began a string of emergency services calls.

“The first call from Henrico came in at 6:45 p.m. that day (May 16),” Collier said. “From then until around 10 pm that night we were extremely busy with calls as the storm made its way, west to east, across our county.”

Collier reported that during that timeframe, he received 35 calls for emergency services.

“Thirty three of those calls were for downed trees that either caused a power outage, impacted travel, or in some cases, both,” he said. “There was one motor vehicle accident that was storm related due to two vehicles striking the same tree that had fell across a road. There were injuries with that accident.

“And our last call was for a home in the eastern end of the county that had roof damage due to the high winds,” Collier added.

One report sent via email to the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald at 7 p.m. on May 16 revealed 2,248 out of 12,381 tracked meters (18.16%) were without power in Northampton County.

“I cannot verify if that number is correct or not, but there were numerous power outages caused by the storm,” Collier stated. “To my knowledge, all electrical power was restored by noon on Saturday.”