Tornadoes spare VCU, devastate surrounding area

Human rights organization plans to participate in national march against police brutality

SARAH ELSON Contributing Writer

Amnesty International at VCU focused its collective attention on the shooting of a local, black Richmond man at its first meeting of the fall semester on Sept. 10.

Members buzzed around the room handing out fliers to newcomers in order to broadcast their upcoming events. Along with information about the club came the main item on the agenda for the meeting: information about the death of Marcus-David Peters, the unarmed man gunned down by a Richmond police officer in May.

Amnesty International is a non-partisan human rights organization. The non-governmental association focuses on the protection and promotion of human rights worldwide through education, awareness-building, advocacy and lobbying.

During the meeting, the executive board members wore shirts with Marcus-David Peters’ face and information on his death.

LOGAN REARDON

Staff Writer

At least one person has died, another was left injured and several buildings were destroyed when one of at least seven tornadoes in the surrounding area tore through Hull Street in Chesterfield.

Multiple tornadoes are confirmed to have touched down in areas across Chesterfield, Henrico, Richmond and Powhatan on Monday evening. It is unclear as of publication exactly how many tornadoes spawned from this storm.

One of the tornadoes hit Weldon Drive in Tuckahoe, causing three trees in a woman’s yard to be uprooted — one of them falling onto a nearby powerline and another falling onto her house. The woman was not injured, according to Jason Miller of Spartan Construction and Tree Service, who was at the scene to help assess the damages to the property. The resident was not available for comment.

No tornadoes touched down on campus, however people in VCU buildings were confined to those spaces for about two hours until conditions outside cleared

HURRICANE up. The tornado warnings, in place at VCU until about 5:45 p.m., caused class and event cancellations.

Over the next few days, The National Weather Service in Wakefield will travel to these areas to survey the damage caused by these tornadoes. The NWS said they will

VCU sees rainfall Monday and Tuesday as Florence passes

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“The worst flooding is yet to come for portions of the Carolinas, the southern [and] central Appalachians from western NC to west-central VA and far eastern WV,” the National Weather Service said in a tweet on Saturday.

Florence’s effect on Richmond was small compared to other areas in Virginia — the city only received scattered showers between Friday and Sunday. Before the storm shifted, the forecast predicted Richmond to experience severe flooding, so VCU prepared for the worst.

The Siegel Center was designated as a back-up shelter to be run by the Department of Social Services in the event that other facilities — at Christopher Newport University and the College of William and Mary — were overcrowded by people who were evacuated from their coastal homes in parts of Hampton Roads and the Carolinas. The facilities closed at noon on Saturday when the weather cleared up.

VCU closed Thursday, cancelling classes and multiple events through Sunday. VCU junior Gina Cutler said she understood the school’s decision, but still thinks it was a mistake to cancel classes.

“They did their best with the knowledge they had,” Cutler said. “It was a good idea at the time, but it ended up being a huge waste.” make tracks of the damage to figure out the strength of the tornadoes and will publish the data they find online.

“After surveys tomorrow we’ll make a nicer summary page with tracks and photos,” said Scott Schumann of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Tonight we’re wearing the shirts because we went to city council to demand that they act and take accountability for the actions that happened after he was killed by the police officer,” said Nathan Land, outreach coordinator for Amnesty International.

Prospective new members were interested in learning about the issues addressed by the club.

“The reason why I came to this meeting was because I liked how they covered social justice and a lot of hot topics,” said VCU freshman Rose Shahid.

To raise awareness about the shooting and its repercussions, Amnesty joined a coalition with other human rights organizations, including Justice and Reformation for Marcus-David Peters and Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality.

The coalition will participate in a national march on Saturday, Oct. 13. Individuals from the Richmond area will march to stand up against the recent ruling that Marcus-David Peters’ death was justifiable — and to raise awareness of systematic police violence throughout the U.S. Amnesty International and Justice and Reformation for Marcus-David Peters invite students to participate in the National March for Justice and Reformation. To sign up to attend, visit justiceandreformation. org/march-details.

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