page_title: Driver, Suffolk, Virginia
section_title: April 2008 Suffolk tornado
hierarchical_section_title: Driver, Suffolk, Virginia / April 2008 Suffolk tornado
caption_attribution_description: English: Aeriel view of heavy damage produced by an EF3 tornado that hit the city of Suffolk, Virginia during the afternoon of April 28, 2008. No fatalities were reported but over 200 people were injured during the tornado event that hit southeastern Virginia. Courtesy of NWS Wakefield, Virginia. The intersection in the lower left is Hillpoint Blvd and Niblick Circle. The heading is northwest. Source: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/akq/wx_events/severe/april28_2008/april28_2008.html National Weather Service Photographer
context_page_description: Driver is a neighborhood in the independent city of Suffolk, Virginia, United States. It is located at the junction of State Route 337, State Route 125, and State Route 627.
  Originally named Persimmon Orchard, Driver was once located on the now-abandoned Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's line in the former Nansemond County between the former town of Suffolk and the City of Portsmouth, which was itself was located in the former Norfolk County.
  Through traffic in Driver formerly used the now closed Kings Highway Bridge to cross the Nansemond River on State Route 125, known as the "Kings Highway." The drawbridge, opened in 1928, was deemed unsafe and closed to traffic in March 2005 by the Virginia Department of Transportation.
  In modern times, as the Hampton Roads area has become largely urbanized all around it, it has been said that Driver is a town "suspended in time." Driver is known in Suffolk for its Driver Variety Store, which is styled as an old time general store, and its annual Driver Days festival.
context_section_description: After 4:00 PM EST on April 28, 2008, a tornado touched down multiple times causing damage and leaving over 200 injured in Suffolk along a path which passed north and west of the downtown area striking near Sentara Obici Hospital and in Driver. The storm seriously damaged over 120 homes and 12 businesses. The subdivisions of Burnett's Mill and Hillpoint Farms were damaged particularly hard, as well as several of the older historic structures in Driver. However, near Driver, large radio and television broadcast towers located in an antenna farm serving most of Hampton Roads were spared serious damage.
  Governor Timothy Kaine declared a state of emergency and directed state agencies to assist the recovery and cleanup efforts.
caption: Aerial view of tornado damage in Suffolk on April 28, 2008 (NWS Wakefield, Virginia)
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