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In the gray, cool dawn after an evening of destructive weather, Richmond-area residents and officials got their first look Friday at the extent of damage from fast-moving storms.

The sound of chain saws and generators punctuated the moist air as hundreds cleared debris from rooftops, yards and driveways — and thousands waited for their power to come back on.

At the height of the storm’s aftermath, some 160,000 customers in the Richmond area were without power, according to Dominion Virginia Power.

Meanwhile Friday, the National Weather Service ruled out the possibility of a tornado in the massive line of storms stretching from Washington south to Farmville that brought heavy winds and rain to the region Thursday night.

On Richmond’s hard-hit North Side, part of a small tree went down and took out an electrical line in Janet Devoss’ backyard. The damage reminded her of the aftermath of two of the largest weather events in recent Richmond history.

“I would rank it along with Isabel and Gaston as far as destruction in our neighborhood,” she said, shortly after driving her car out from under a branch from a fallen tree.