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Powerful tornados rip through Gloucester; community rallies

The Gloucester community has rallied around its neighbors stricken by several powerful tornados that touched down in Gloucester County Saturday night, leaving a straight-line path of destruction from the communities of Coke and Clopton, devastating Page Middle School and touching down again at Ware Neck and the northern end of Mathews, before eventually heading off to Deltaville and then out to the Chesapeake Bay.

In Gloucester, the storm caused just under $8 million worth of damage, according to Emily Ashley, Gloucester’s emergency services coordinator. That figure does not even include the destruction at Page, which is yet to be determined. The EF-3 tornado has left three dead, 11 homes destroyed and over 200 others damaged.

The tornados hit around 7 p.m. after a day of stormy winds and thickening clouds, the advance guard of a strong frontal system moving up from the South.

While their most obvious damage was the destruction of the back wing of Page Middle School, they...

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