PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — What started as a hurricane hit our region as a tropical storm. But this downgrade did little to diminish the extreme destruction left by the warpath of Isaias.
On this day five years ago, the storm pummeled our region swiftly in the dark early morning hours. Two people died in Bertie County, North Carolina after a tornado touched down amid Isaias.
Many remember how loud it was, causing hundreds of thousands to lose power, destroying buildings and lives. In Suffolk, it was like a bomb went off when another tornado tore a hole out of downtown. More than $2 million in damage to the city and a massive clean-up project was left in its wake. In this part of downtown, an undamaged building was a rare sight.
“We had our alarms going off, all our phones at 2, 3, 4 in the morning,” recalled Daniel McDonald, executive director of Keep Suffolk Beautiful and one of the many who led the efforts to transform the block. “I remember distinctly thinking that a train was going by, because we have a train that runs right behind our neighborhood. But when I checked this morning, it was a train coming through downtown.”
Using it as an opportunity to beautify the town, they tore down the damaged buildings, allowing a park to rise from the rubble. It is now the Downtown Festival Park, a venue for concerts, events and the occasional ice skating rink.
“It’s a good turnaround to go from destroyed building, to now, it’s a nice park where they do the TGIF series, Suffolk Parks and Rec,” McDonald said. “I’m just extremely happy to see this go from destruction to beauty.”
The Downtown Festival Park was a $1.3 million project.
