From the archives: Derecho 2012
On June 29, 2012, a highly destructive storm called a derecho swept across the Midwest and into the mid-Atlantic states, causing widespread damage and millions of power outages.
Locally, the violent 75-mph winds caused the largest power outage in Appalachian Power's history. More than 70,000 customers in the Lynchburg area lost electricity, including 27,000 in Lynchburg alone — more than three-quarters of APCo's customers in the region. At least six people in Virginia died because of the weather, including a Bedford County couple.
Trees and debris damaged many homes, businesses and roads while residents flocked to restaurants, stores and gas stations. Numerous cooling shelters were opened in Lynchburg and surrounding counties to give those affected by the outages relief from a heat wave that accompanied the storm.
Here is a look at photos from that time.
A woman rides her bike beneath a fallen tree and damaged power lines on Langhorne Ave in Lynchburg, June 30, 2012.
Frances Lukens looks at the tangle of boards and tree limbs sticking through her living room ceiling, the result of a huge oak tree falling directly on the house during a storm the previous night on Link Road in Lynchburg on June 30, 2012. That storm, a highly destructive derecho, swept across the Midwest and into the mid-Atlantic states, causing widespread damage and millions of power outages. Locally, the violent 75-mph winds caused the largest power outage in Appalachian Power’s history. More than 70,000 customers in the Lynchburg area lost electricity, including 27,000 in Lynchburg alone.
Cooper Scott shows the car where he and his mother were trapped after a large oak tree fell on them during the storm the night before in Lynchburg, June 30, 2012.
Cars line up at the Exxon station in Madison Heights June 30, 2012. This scene was seen throughout the Lynchburg area at various gas stations and restaurants in the aftermath of the derecho storm that caused widespread power outages in Amherst County.
City crews cleanup a blockage on Sixth Street between Federal and Harrison streets in Lynchburg on June 30, 2012.
City workers examine lines and trees down across Mimosa Drive in Lynchburg June 30, 2012.
A downed tree and power lines block Rivermont Avenue at Oak Lane, near Virginia Baptist Hospital, June 30, 2012.
In the process of cutting up and removing an oak tree blocking Inglewood Road in Lynchburg, a crane lifts the crushed Honda Element that Amy Scott and her son, Cooper, were inside of June 29, 2012 as the tree fell on top of them. Both were treated for minor injuries.
Store owner Naeem Ahmad regulates the sale of bags of ice immediately after a shipment arrived around 1 pm at Center City Mini Mart in Lynchburg, Va., July 1, 2012. At $2 per bag, Ahamd eventually limited sales to two and then one bag per person but still ran out within 10 minutes. "And I still don't have ice for my home," he said after the 134 bags were gone.
Deveon Brown (center) waits in a temporary shelter at the Boonsboro Volunteer Fire and Rescue Co. Inc. in Bedford County, Va., June 29, 2012. Brown and other extended family members are visiting from Norfolk and have been staying at Eagle's Eyrie. While out running an errand, they were caught on the other side of a downed power line on U.S. 501 which prevented them from returning. They were told it may not be cleared until Saturday.
Marcia McCloud (right) and her great-granddaughter Makayla Milton, find some comfort together at the Red Cross cooling station at Sandusky Middle School in Lynchburg, Va., July 1, 2012. Milton was visiting her great-grandmother Friday when the storm hit and forced the two to find other shelter. Making light of it, McCloud explained, "It's like a vacation, vacation away from home!"
Tom Woodford passes out prepared meals to Ray Foster for the line workers out in the field on July 5, 2012 at the AEP offices.
Nick Thomas of the Lynchurg Fire Department tends to a downed tree on Rainbow Circle on July 3, 2012. The tree was the last downed tree that completely blocked a road in Lynchburg.
Michelle Fultz and her daughter Jamie Lindsay, 15, deliver slices of watermelon July 6, 2012 to the utility crews to keep them fresh as they work in her neighborhood to remove trees draped over power lines on Chesterfield Place.
Kevin Earnest hits a broken off telephone pole with a sledgehammer to wiggle it loose on Sedgewick Drive in Lynchburg, Va., July 5, 2012. Earnest and the crew he is with were called in to work from Pennsylvania to help with repairs.
Workers from Pike Electric Corporation load up an electric pole onto their trucks before heading into the field on July 5, 2012 at the AEP offices on Mayflower Drive.
Jeremiah Wiseman of Pike Electric Corporation works on restroing power lines on Cranehill Drive on July 5, 2012.
Broken electric poles collect at the AEP offices on Mayflower Drive.
Power lines are down on several streets in the Windsor Hills neighborhood, where a crew prepared July 6, 2012 to put in new utility pole at the intersection of Cornwallis and Chesterfield drives.
Crews remove large branches knocked down in the storm from the front of a damaged home on Rivermont Avenue in Lynchburg, Va., July 5, 2012.
Scotty Scarboro pulls new cable lines through fixtures along Perrymont Avenue in Lynchburg, Va., July 5, 2012.
Dereck Cunningham knocks down remaining shards from broken panes of glass in a greenhouse at Lynchburg Grows in Lynchburg, Va., July 6, 2012.
A crew for the S&N Communications lower a utility pole July 6, 2012 that was broken in the storm the previous week before replacing the pole to help the Windsor Hills neighborhood.
Public works employees load up debris from downed trees at Miller Park on July 6, 2012.
A crew from Lynchburg public works department work on removing a tree from a downed power line at Miller Park July 6, 2012. The tree was one of the many that were down in the park.
One of many trees downed at Peaks View Park.
July is in the peak season for heat waves and severe storms in Virginia, plus the occasional tropical storm or tornado.
Chaos was unleashed in parts of the Lynchburg area Friday as powerful winds swept away trees and ripped apart power lines.
The Lynchburg area is on the southern edge of an area of the Mid-Atlantic at an "enhanced" risk of severe storms Monday, according to the Nati…
We get splashed by the heat wave this weekend.