09/06/2006

Associated Press

Ernesto left boats beached, roughed up waterfront properties and left Virginia's Middle Peninsula sodden and shaken before the tropical depression moved north.

Gwynn's Island and east-facing communities along the Chesapeake Bay watershed sustained the worst damage, according to Wilford Kale of the Virginia Marine Resource Commission. A commission pilot observed storm damage from the air and reported severely damaged piers and boathouses from Mobjack Bay north into Mathews and Middlesex, he said.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials will decide within the coming days whether hard-hit coastal counties on the Middle Peninsula, as well as the Northern Neck, will get assistance.

Steve Whiteway, Mathews County administrator, said tidal flooding and up to 1 foot of rain caused an estimated $1.5 million of property damage and $200,000 in crop losses.

Statewide, the storm that slammed the state Friday caused nearly $90 million in damage, according to preliminary state estimates. Richmond accounts for half of that number. A ruptured sewer main and Ernesto's rain flooded one city neighborhood, forcing hundreds out of their homes.

This week, recreational vehicles at Gwynn's Island Camper Haven remained mired in mud. At one Rappahanock River marina, four boats sank and numerous piers were damaged or destroyed. A fishing boat was stranded in the yard of a house.

Williamsburg resident Jack Carey was at his Gwynn's Island cottage in Mathews County across the street from the shore when a neighbor's wind gauge clocked 80-mph gusts. Quickly about an inch of water covered his floor.

"It was kind of scary," he said.

Many in the waterfront communities said they weren't prepared for Ernesto and felt fortunate they were spared extensive damage.

Anthony Glasco said he rode out the storm in Jackson Creek on his 42-foot workboat after several hours fighting a rising tide that threatened to leave his oystering vessel grounded.

"A few of us stood by with our fingers crossed. This one wasn't as bad (as Hurricane Isabel) but it was close," Glasco said.

Area county administrators complained that Dominion Virginia Power didn't let them know some residents would be in the dark for five or six days. They have scheduled a Sept. 15 meeting with the utility.

"We want to make the case for getting more reliable estimates of when power will be restored," said Bill Pennell, administrator of Lancaster County.

Dominion Virginia Power spokesman David Botkins said it took utility crews time to assess the damage caused by Ernesto's unexpected strength.

"Once we got into those hard-hit areas, we saw things were worse than originally anticipated," he said.

The rural region and its geography — deeply divided by tidal creeks and streams — further complicated restoration efforts, Botkins said.