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New Jersey couple killed in tornado at Va. campground

A New Jersey couple was killed when a tree fell on their tent at a campground in Virginia.

Virginia State Police said Jersey City residents Lord Balatbat and Lolibeth Ortega, both age 38, died from the storm that ripped through the Cherrystone Campground on the state's Eastern Shore on Thursday morning.

The tornado brought down power lines and trees, which toppled onto campers, tents and cabins, authorities said.

The couple's 13-year-old son was among the 36 people at the campground hospitalized from the tornado.

Luis Balatbat Jr., Lord Balatbat's brother, told the Jersey Journal that the family was "shocked" by the deaths.

"We are a close family and this is very bad for us," he said.

Another family member told the newspaper that the teenage boy was in a coma and the couple's two daughters were also hurt. The pair had been married for 14 years and were born in the Philippines, the newspaper reported.

Officials said there were 1,328 campers and 44 staff members at the site when the tornado hit. The tornado came in from the Chesapeake Bay, police said, and moved northwest through the grounds.

Others from New Jersey who were at the campsite described a devastating storm.

Washington Township resident Joe Micucci told the Associated Press that he saw softball-sized hail and destroyed campers.

"We saw at least five that were flipped over," he said. "One was completely gone and only had its wheels left."

The storm "was coming through the trees right at us" and "pounding them windows like you couldn't believe," Albert Thorn, of Monroeville, told the AP.

"You could hear people screaming before it even got to us."