From Sanford.
Click here for links to live coverage & emergency radio traffic
Pictures from Mike Legeros
Raleigh/Wake Firefighting Blog run down of area FD's response to the storms
The National Weather Service reports as many as 24 people dead and widespread damage after multiple tornadoes roared through Central North Carolina Saturday afternoon. USAR teams and other firefighters are searching damaged buildings for more victims. Above and below are a number of videos showing the tornadoes and the damage.
Two dozen people might have been killed by severe storms and tornadoes that struck at least 20 counties in North Carolina Saturday, according to preliminary reports Sunday.
WRAL News has confirmed 18 deaths, while the National Weather Service received preliminary reports of 24 deaths.
The worst-hit area appears to be Bertie County, where authorities say 10 people are dead there and one is missing.
Raleigh Fire Department conducting a search. Picture by Mike Legeros. Click here for more from Legeros.com.
Emergency crews are still searching for victims in the hard-hit parts of the state. Authorities warn the death toll is likely to rise further Sunday as searchers probed shattered homes and businesses.
"There's a lot of work that needs to be done in these areas that are most heavily impacted," said Doug Hoell, the state's director of emergency management. "There's a lot of debris out there that's got to be cleaned up."
Man driving with his family on I-95 in North Carolina.
Tornadoes were reported in Raleigh, Holly Springs, Roxboro, Fayetteville, downtown Wilson and Roanoke Rapids according to WRAL meteorologist Nate Johnson.
Emergency crews rescued a family in Person County that had taken shelter in their basement. They became trapped when a tree fell on their home.
Another family on I-95 spots a tornado.
One apparent tornado ripped through Sanford, carving a path about a mile long. The winds ripped the roof off a Lowe's store, turning a delivery truck on its side in the parking lot. Along with one man reported killed, another had to be cut from an overturned car, and several people were injured.
Wind damage in Johnston County forced authorities to close Interstate 95 near Micro about 5:45 p.m. There also were reports of severe structural damage and vehicles overturned in Dunn and in Wilson.
More from Sanford.
And another view from Sanford.
Damage from Sanford.
The video above is of a tornado reported to be near Fayetteville.
Damage in Fayetteville.
Newscast from WTVD-TV.
Also on STATter911 …
- Pre-arrival video: House fire in Kirkland, Washington. – August 26, 2012
- Two dead in Indianapolis explosion. 18 homes leveled or damaged. – November 11, 2012
- Live coverage: Large tornado outbreak in Oklahoma City area. Two Moore schools leveled with missing & trapped children. – May 20, 2013
- UPDATE – Dashcam-video & radio traffic: Milton, KY Chief Jason Long’s response during tornado that leveled firehouse. – March 4, 2012
Comments
Powered by Facebook Comments
Looking at the damage from Sanford I would suspect it will be catagorized as an EF4 tornado at its peak.
You can clearly see the tornado in the 5th video is a multi-vortex tornado and possibly just make out in the Sanford videos, though they are poor in quality, multiple vorticies as well.
Glad the Sanford-Raleigh tornado went just a couple miles south of the Harris nuclear plant.
that is correct my brother works at the nuclear plant and he told me that they were prepare to turn the nuclear plant off if the tornado hits them but thanks God it did not happen because that would be a desaster for the triangle area. however, my town, sanford, is totally destroyed. this place is small and we dont have almost nothing just the busnisses in the horner blvd and the tornado practically destroyed everything. yet thanks God that all the people that lives around the lowes neighborhood are fine. they have some damages in their properties but the people is fine.
HELLO,I WATCHED THE NEWS THIS AM ,CAN YOU TELL ME IF TONRADO DID ANY DAMAGE IN MONROE COUNTY,NORTH CAROLINA? THANK YOU. BERNIE
Check out more damage video here in Lumberton NC. http://firerescuetv.com/page.asp?cs=31&catid=628&id=1554
Can't believe there's no talk of raleigh north. One of the lowest income areas in raleigh. Total diseaster!
What about DURHAM? Did it hit badly there?
Hi I'm looking for my brother who leave in Chapell Hill Durham? No telephone contact, e-mails
Can anyone tell me were can i call? any phone numbers?
There were several tornadoes across the central & eastern part of the state all the way from the South Carolina line to Virginia. With all the damage & stories of people hiding in small rooms & watching their houses & buildings be ripped away, it is amazing that no more people have lost their lives because of all this so far only 28 with 133 seriously injured statewide. The latest number is saying that there were a total of 28 tornadoes across the state. Out of those 28, 5 of them were listed as EF3 by the national weather service. Those 5 tornadoes hit Lee, Wake, Harnett, Cumberland, & Johnston. Although its not rare to have a few severe storms in the summer & spring produce a small tornado or damaging winds, but it was 1984 when we last had this many produced from 1 storm system.
My wife & myself along with 2 of our friends were at the bottom of the 1 in Harnett County when it formed. I actually called dispatch on my volunteer department's portable radio that I carry and informed them that there was a tornado on the ground moving north. Not really sure how we made it through that with no problems, but we were very lucky.