Hands Across the Sands has local reach

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - Around the world and around Hampton Roads, people gathered Saturday to show their opposition to offshore drilling and support clean, renewable energy.

People gathered at dozens of beaches in Virginia and North Carolina, including Ocean View in Norfolk, Sandbridge in Virginia Beach, and Buckroe Beach in Hampton.

Participants said they did not want what happened in the gulf to happen here in Hampton Roads.

"You can see the devastation it's created in the gulf already," said protestor Al Long, "and if the same thing happened here, it would be an incredible disaster for this area."

Organizers for the Ocean View event expected several hundred people at the protest. Organizers in Sandbridge said they expected more than one thousand protestors.