Houses destroyed by suspected tornado

Sampson residents were left without homes Wednesday afternoon following a suspected tornado that touched down near the Harrells community around 3 p.m., shortly after a tornado warning was issued in the area.

There were no injuries reported at the scene, and all members living in each dwelling were safe.

Two houses located in the 1400 block of Bland School Road were completely destroyed in what is suspected to be a tornado spawned by Tropical Storm Debby which is making its way into North Carolina.

One of the houses was a family center, Serenity Family Care, which housed six adults. The other was a residential home.

All members at the care center were out when the destruction came through but property owner Erica Merritt was on location afterward trying to access the situation.

“I’m not sure what happened but I was told a tornado came through, and I came over here to check the house and this is what I found,” she said.

“This is a family care home facility and fortunately nobody was here. That’s all I know because no one has told me anything about what happened since I get here.”

Andrea Fennell lived in the residential home and was present when the tornado hit but was to shaken up to talk about what had happened.

See the full weather report and tornado story details, and more photos, in the weekend edition of The Sampson Independent.