Tornado just came through town

[DHC6twinotter]

Well, we got nailed pretty good by the line of storms that came across the central plains and into the the east coast. A tornado touched down about 1/2 mile from my house and destroyed a neighborhood. It made a path across town, and the entire northwest side of town is shut down. No power and only residence are allowed in. Curfew put in place from 9pm-6am. It's a mess. Tornado that went through our area was rated at an EF3 with a width of 1 mile at the widest point and a path of 65 miles long.

Here is a video from WRAL news (Raleigh based):

http://www.wral.com/weather/video/9457476/

A few pictures I took:

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3405.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3404.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3403.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3402.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3399.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3398.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3397.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3396.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3387.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3407.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3395.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3393.jpg[/img]

I'll take a few more tomorrow, if I can back in the neighborhood.

Sanford and Dunn, a couple towns about 45 miles north, were hit pretty hard as well. The Lowes in Sanford was completely demolished.

Anyways, I would really appreciate it if you all could keep the folks affected by the storms in your thoughts and prayers. They could really use it.

[Seanz0rz]

already done dan...

i was scrambling around the local news papers and google earth to see if you were in the affected zone before i got a txt back! glad to see you and your family made it ok.

that is completely devastating. it's heartbreaking to see families impacted like this, especially when you see a child's toy in the first picture.

from the pictures ive seen it looks as if the houses affected were not built to the building codes like there are in the midwest, probably because this is a very infrequent event.

[Obi..]

Good to hear you're OK man!

[corax]

Damn . . . Mother Nature does not play around. Happy to hear you weren't in the path, though I'm guessing, if you haven't already, you might look a bit closer at what supplies you keep in the basement.

How much warning was there? Was NOAA or the local weather service aware of what was coming?

[DHC6twinotter]

already done dan...

i was scrambling around the local news papers and google earth to see if you were in the affected zone before i got a txt back! glad to see you and your family made it ok.

that is completely devastating. it's heartbreaking to see families impacted like this, especially when you see a child's toy in the first picture.

from the pictures ive seen it looks as if the houses affected were not built to the building codes like there are in the midwest, probably because this is a very infrequent event.

Thanks Sean! I'm not sure what the codes are out here, but tornados are pretty rare. Our county usually gets a couple a year, but I've never seen one come into any densely populated areas around here.

Good to hear you're OK man!

Thanks! I feel really blessed right now.

Damn . . . Mother Nature does not play around. Happy to hear you weren't in the path, though I'm guessing, if you haven't already, you might look a bit closer at what supplies you keep in the basement.

How much warning was there? Was NOAA or the local weather service aware of what was coming?

Yeah, we have a lot of food in the pantry, although it probably would have been smart to have a few more cases of water. We lost power for about 3 hours, but the area 2 blocks up and the N/NW side of town is still without power.

Not very many basements around here either. Water table is too high I guess. None of those homes in the pictures had basements. It's amazing that there weren't anymore fatalities.

Our warning system isn't very good. No sirens or anything. I knew about the storms moving across the central plains and through Georgia and Alabama, but most of the time the Appalachians deflect the storms up through the Ohio Valley and into the northeast. The storms that hit us were from remnants that came around the south end of the Apps. It wasn't a big storm, but just some really strong cells that came through and kinda re-grouped together in the western part of the state. The meteorologists did say there was a high risk for tornado activity (highest since '84), and the whole state was in a tornado watch.

I was watching the news, and they were talking about some strong storm cells with hook echos up towards Raleigh and to the north. Last I heard before our sat signal went out was that there was a storm cell about 30 miles southwest of us that had a potential of producing a tornado. I sat in my room and watched out the window for anything crazy, but not much was going on. Some heavy rain and wind for about 15 minutes, then the power went out. I figured somebody must have run into a pole. A little bit later, I knew something was really wrong when I heard emergency vehicles driving by for 30 minutes. That's when I headed up the street and came upon some the tornado damage. All I could see was one office building that had blown out windows and some shingles missing. The severity of the tornado didn't hit me till I heard people talking about the ground shaking and homes crumbling. Families were walking down the street pulling suitcases full of whatever they could take with them. Kinda sad.

Sorry for being a bit long-winded there.

[DHC6twinotter]

Also, I wasn't able to take anymore pictures today. My normal 10 minute commute home took 1.5 hours. Many of the main roads are still closed. Most of the neighborhoods are still blocked off anyways. I'll try again tomorrow.

[Crinale]

holy crap Dan.. So glad you and your family are ok!

[DHC6twinotter]

Some of the main roads have re-opened, so I was able to get a few more pictures. Hardest hit areas are still closed to non-residents. Here are a few more pics:

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3413.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3420.jpg[/img]

There is a house under there:
[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3421.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3422.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3432.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3424.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3426.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3427.jpg[/img]

[img width=800 height=600]http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm233/DHC6twinotter/tornado/IMG_3429.jpg[/img]

Power is still out on the NW side of town. As I was driving around, it was really cool to see all the neighbors pulling together for a dinner on the grill. Everybody seems to be in high spirits considering the devastation they went through.

[Crinale]

.. As I was driving around, it was really cool to see all the neighbors pulling together for a dinner on the grill. Everybody seems to be in high spirits considering the devastation they went through.

Its always amazing how well people pull together in the case of disasters.

[Okie81]

Good grief, it looks like a 3rd world country! So true Crinale, people show their true colors in the face of disaster...and it looks like there's lots of good people in NC.