HAMPTON ROADS -- Severe weather rumbled through Hampton Roads Thursday afternoon, prompting numerous weather warnings and causing damage and flooding.
There's flooding throughout Hampton Roads because the rain came so quickly at rush hour that the storm drains couldn't clear the water fast enough.
There are power outages throughout the region and Dominion Power crews are waiting for the storm to pass so crews can safely go out and restore service.
In Va. Beach, streets in the area of Baltic and Mediterranean avenues are flooded, so drivers are trying to maneuver around them.
Lightning strikes around the 56th-57th Street area at the Oceanfront kept firefighters busy.
Fire officials put out a fire in the attic of a three-and-a-half story home on Dawson Street.
There's damage in the attic and smoke damage on the second floor, but no one was hurt.
At a Hampton apartment complex near the Coliseum area, water is reaching the tires and people are driving through high water, causing some of them to stall.
Police, fire and rescue personnel and city services officials are out assessing the situation, so they're suggesting anyone stay inside until the storm passes.
A 13News viewer who lives in the Western Branch area of Chesapeake says he's registered five inches of rain, causing bad flooding in his neighborhood area.
In downtown Norfolk near the Chrysler Museum, water is nearly knee-high.
Many vehicles are trying to get around and checking out streets to see if they can safely pass.
"When it's this hot and this humid, it's conceivable to get these rain amounts," said 13News Meteorologist Jeff Lawson.
At its height, the entire storm had about 2,500 strikes in about an hour, but it's down to about 458 cloud-to-ground strikes, Lawson said.
There are still many areas that are experiencing serious flooding, Lawson added.
In Chesapeake, at Bethlehem Baptist Church on Link Street, a brick tower was apparently struck by lightning.
Neighbors said they heard a loud boom and rushed to see what happened. When they went to look, part of the tower was broken apart, although it was still standing.
Pieces of brick were strewn all over the sidewalk and grass.
Another man in that area tried to put out fire in his shed behind his home. Firefighters arrived moments later to quickly extinguish the fire. No one was hurt.
A 13News viewer who lives in the Western Branch area of Chesapeake says he's registered five inches of rain, causing serious flooding in his neighborhood area.
In downtown Norfolk near the Chrysler Museum, water was nearly knee-high.
Many vehicles are trying to get around and checking out streets to see if they can safely pass.
Reports of funnel clouds in Virginia Beach prompted a tornado warning. There was no confirmation that a funnel cloud touched down.
As very strong storms moved through the area, a flash flood warning was posted for Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach and York County.
Lawson said the storms formed ahead of a cold front, which means it won't be as hot and will be less humid for Friday, with afternoon temperatures in the mid 80s.
