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Rappahannock Record reporters/photographers Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi, Audrey Thomasson and Starke Jett covered the nor’easter that blew into the area last Wednesday and lingered through Friday.

The storm dumped some 10 inches of rain in many areas of the Northern Neck and produced peak wind gusts of some 60 miles per hour. It was one of the strongest nor’easters on record, said meteorologist Mike Rusnak with the National Weather Service in Wakefield.

Although some reports described the storm as a remnant of Hurricane Ida, that storm’s circulation “disbanded in Florida,” said Rusnak. “This was a nor’easter, that’s all.”

Tropical moisture did increase the rainfall, which varied from 5 inches in some parts of the state to more than 10 in others. Winds in the Hampton Roads area at Oceana Air Force Base reached gusts of 75 miles per hour, close to hurricane force, said Rusnak.

Gov. Tim Kaine declared a state of emergency in Virginia last Wednesday night as did many local governments throughout the state Thursday morning.

In Lancaster County

In the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula, sustained winds were about 25 to 30 miles per hour, according to Lancaster County administrator and public information officer William Pennell.

“I went all over the county and the wind and rain did seem more severe in the White Stone area,” said Pennell.

Tides rose 3 to 4 feet above normal in Lancaster County, said Rusnak. Statewide, tides were just slightly lower than Hurricane Isabel’s tides in 2003, he said.

In the White Stone area, where the Virginia Department of Transportation closed two roads including Windmill Point Road and Poplar Neck Road, tides were about 3.05 feet above normal.

In the low-lying village of Morattico, the Rappahannock River merged with the creeks to close Riverside Drive.

“We only had two [emergency] calls from people who thought they were in jeopardy,” said Pennell. One call was from a family with water rising around their home and the other from a young woman and her baby who could not return home because of a flooded road.

No emergency shelters were set up, according to Pennell.

At the height of the storm, about 10 p.m. Thursday, more than 178,000 Dominion Virginia Power customers in the southeastern Virginia region were without electricity. Locally, power outages were spotty and were due to fallen trees across power lines.

Communications specialist Andrew Packett with Northern Neck Electric Cooperative reported scattered power outages to approximately 1,140 members on Thursday morning. The Burgess area accounted for about 1,000 while another 140 were in the Rocky Neck Road area of Lancaster.

Power was restored to all of the customers by Thursday afternoon.

A mid-day power outage at Lancaster Primary School on Thursday did not keep students from receiving vaccines for the H1N1 virus, according to school superintendent Susan Sciabbarrasi.

She reported generators ran for about an hour until Virginia Dominion Power restored electricity.

Schools were closed in Lancaster Friday due to power outages and flooding and afternoon activities on Thursday were postponed. Parents in the Windmill Point area were contacted individually on Wednesday with instructions on special meeting points set up for buses to pick up students Thursday morning because of high water levels in the area.

In Northumberland County

County administrator and emergency services director Kenny Eades reported there were only spotty power outages that lasted mostly for just a few hours. Eades said there were no major problems reported from the flooding and a shelter was not opened for the few families that left Lewisetta because of high water.

“Lewisetta and some areas along the Potomac had some bulkhead and riprap damage,” said Eades, “and there were a few trees down in spots causing isolated power outages, but overall it wasn’t too bad.”

Northumberland County schools were closed Friday as a precaution because of high water still standing on some roads. Superintendent Clint Stables told the county supervisors on Thursday night that the schools would open two hours late, but amended that decision early the next morning.

A single-vehicle accident on Route 360 November 12 at the height of the storm was attributed to higher than safe speed for the weather conditions, according Virginia State Police Sgt. R.S. Russell Jr. A 1994 Honda Excel driven by Phillip A. Cobb of Heathsville slid off the road into a ditch on the right side of the eastbound lane near Horsehead, Russell said.

“The driver indicated to me that he hyrdo-planed when he hit some water in the road,” said State Trooper Rodney Ward, who took the accident report.

Six people were sent to the hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries, according to Ward. He said the driver was charged with reckless driving and the parents of two young children in the car were charged with child endangerment because there were no restraints for them in the car.

Emergency personnel aided the victims in a driving rain and high wind, and traffic was routed around the site while the victims were put in ambulances and taken to Rappahannock General Hospital.

Reedville Marine Railway, owned by George Butler, and the Reedville Marina, owned by Charles Williams, experienced flooding as they do with any higher-than-normal tide, but suffered no unusual damage.

Butler and two Fishermen’s Museum volunteers, Dick Doyle and Charlie Gillmer, cut away an awning on one museum boat, the Catherine, that was under an engine lift, because it was threatening to push the boat down in the water as the tide rose. Otherwise there was no damage.