Strong gusts early Sunday rip roof off dock at Deltaville’s Regatta Point
A little wind is a friend — but a lot of wind is an enemy.
Powerful wind ripped the roof off of covered docks and caused another dock’s roof to collapse at Regatta Point Yachting Center on Broad Creek in Deltaville.
Out of the south came wind and rain about 1:45 a.m. Sunday. The sudden storm passed over Middlesex County’s eastern tip at Stingray Point.
The wind was funneled into the open side of a dock with eight covered slips. It lifted the metal roof, support beams and the entire structure. Timbers measuring six inches square were snapped, said Paul Murray, assistant chief of the Lower Middlesex Volunteer Fire Department (LMVFD) in Deltaville.
Some of the debris landed on the roof of a covered dock next to it. The intense wind and extra weight caused the second dock’s roof to shift and collapse.
Timing
Had the night storm arrived during the day when more people were on the docks, “it could have been a whole lot worse,” said Murray.
Murray, a former professional firefighter, said wind will often toss gas grills around like toys. However, a gas grill and two picnic tables with furled umbrellas remained in place right next to the dock that had the roof taken off.
Collapse
One man who had been on his boat during the storm had to be picked up by a firefighter and a boat owner was forced to use an inflatable dinghy because the walkway was impassable, said Murray. He was not injured and neither were the three or four couples who had been sleeping on boats when the roof over them was taken away.
Seven boats ranging in size from 45-60 feet in length were under the collapsed roof, Murray said, adding that several boats had left the marina and gone cruising, and by doing so avoided damage.
Barges and a large crane arrived Sunday afternoon and began lifting debris.
“We had good response from first responders,” said Murray. “The marina management was on scene before the first responders” arrived and they had already shut down electricity.
Firefighters immediately checked to make sure no one was in the water, said Murray.
The marina has a good data base and made phone calls to determine no one was missing within about 20 minutes, he said. The boats were not accessible because the roof was on them, so phone calls were made to determine if boats were occupied.
Several agencies were notified, said Murray, including the Virginia Marine Police, U.S. Coast Guard, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and Virginia Department of Emergency Management, which deals with hazardous materials, including fuel spills. There was no fuel spilled and crews were working carefully to avoid a spill. No boats were sunk.
Some debris was in the channel and boaters were notified via VHF radio alerts.
