Virginia Coast Braces for Nor'easter as Minor Flooding Reported

A nor'easter kept Virginia's coastal communities on alert on Friday, with residents watching rising water and officials taking precautionary measures.

In Yorktown, sixth-grade teacher Laura Joy Palma made the most of a storm-related day off, heading to Yorktown Beach to photograph the churning surf. Water spurted up between the boards of the pier as she watched waves crash and foam.

"This entire beach has changed," Palma said. "Like, where I usually set my striped beach chair, there is no beach. Just swallowed. Where there's usually herons, there aren't, because there's no place for them to land."

Despite the altered shoreline, Palma said the flooding had not disrupted her visit. "We don't have school today, and I'm a teacher. So, this is exactly the kind of thing that we look forward to. Especially when you can get out and actually enjoy it because the flooding is not affecting us, this particular beach, to keep us away."

A row of sandbags stood in front of a historic home on Water Street in Yorktown, the town where the last major battle of the American Revolution was fought. Elsewhere, a vehicle passed through high water near a warning sign.

In Norfolk, officials closed some flood gates as a precaution. Only minor, localized flooding had been reported so far.