National Weather Service confirms EF3 tornado hit North Carolina Friday; 15 injured, fire chief says

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WNCN) — An EF3 tornado with estimated peak winds of 140 miles per hour touched down in Rocky Mount around 1:30 p.m. Friday, the National Weather Service confirmed.

The “powerful but brief tornado” was 100 yards wide and wreaked havoc quickly along it’s quarter of a mile-long path.

“While the path was short, the damage was intense,” NWS Raleigh said.

CBS 17 Meteorologist Lance Blocker was on the ground in Rocky Mount when the ‘significant tornado’ touched down, heading north at 1:31 p.m.

In a 3:30 p.m. press conference, Rocky Mount Fire Chief Darvin Moore said there were no fatalities but 15 people sustained injuries. Four of those include serious injuries, he said.

A total of 14 buildings were damaged. The damages range from half an auto repair shop being ripped away to a medical supply store turned into mostly a pile of bricks. The brunt of the damage is to businesses in and around Tiffany Square shopping center near North Wesleyan Bouelvard. and Tiffany Boulevard.

Tonya Ward, a dining room supervisor at K&W Cafeteria, said there were about 20 to 25 customers and employees inside the restaurant when the sky went black and the tornado touched down. She said no one in the restaurant was hurt, but people did run there for help.

“I heard my managers say ‘It’s coming!’,” Ward said. “I looked up and said ‘Oh my God’.”

“People were hurt and we just helped them out,” she continued. “I just never experienced anything like that. I never seen anything like that. I’m blessed here to tell the story.”

Thomas Robinson said the tornado sounded like a train. He said he and others jumped in to rescue people trapped.

“I actually saw all this debris get ripped through,” Robinson said. “That’s what I threw the dog inside, threw my boots on to come out and try and help anybody over here. You heard everybody screaming, running out with their hands up. We pulled the four people out of a building. They were all trapped under bricks and everything.”

An 18-wheeler was also overturned during the tornado. Blocker spoke with the driver, who was unharmed.

A City of Rocky Mount spokesperson said it will take a few days to assess the full scope of all the damage to Tiffany Square and likely months to rebuild.

The CBS 17 Storm Team has broken down the radar, debris and rotation at the time the tornado hit Rocky Mount in the map images below.

An EF1 tornado was also confirmed to have touched down in Sampson County late Friday morning.

According to NWS Raleigh, the twister touched down shortly before 11:30 a.m. and was on the ground for 3.31 miles with estimated peak winds of 95 mph. It snapped trees along Helltown Road outside Garland near the Bladen County line. NWS Raleigh also said it uprooted a large oak tree near Elwell Road.

No injuries were reported due to the tornado in Sampson County.

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