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| Situation Update No. 2 Ref.no.: TO-20100329-25498-USA
Situation Update No. 2
On 2010-03-30 at 03:24:52 [UTC]
Event: Tornado
Location: USA State of North Carolina Western area Situation: The storms that ripped through Davidson County and High Point on Sunday night spawned at least three tornadoes and destroyed dozens of homes but did not result in a single death. Several tornadoes were reported along a 150-mile swath of North Carolina and Jeff Orrock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, confirmed Monday that an EF3 tornado touched down near the intersection of Old Mill Rd. and Johnson St. in High Point. The tornado, Orrock said, was about 200 yards wide with wind speeds that reached 138 mph. The storm may be upgraded to EF3 strength after further investigation. A family of five that was hiding in a bedroom closet survived after the entire bedroom was picked up and tossed about 100 feet. "I guess it knocked me out," said owner Jason Huffman. "I felt myself go back and forth and it took our whole piece of house over." On Monday afternoon, High Point Mayor Becky Smother declared a state of emergency. The city said it planned to add 25 patrol officers Monday night to the neighborhoods severely damaged by the tornado. Only residents in those neighborhoods will be allowed access to their homes, police Chief Jim Fealy said. According to High Point fire Chief David Taylor, 14 single family homes and eight apartments had been judged uninhabitable as of 2 p.m. Monday. National Weather Service teams also confirmed that a tornado packing winds of up to 120 miles an hour hit the southern Davidson County community of Linwood, and that a weaker twister with winds of up to about 90 mph touched down in Person County north of Durham, meteorologist Katie Roussy said. The tornado severely damaged three mobile homes and destroyed one at the Chestnut Grove trailer park off Clark Road in Linwood. Thirty people were displaced from their homes, and some spent the night in the gym of North Davidson High School.
In the northern part of the county, the storms blew an entire mobile home and a Chevrolet Suburban into a lake off Sink Lake Rd. A family of four that was inside the home at the time swam to safety. Davidson County Sheriff David Grice declared a state of emergency Sunday night due to the severe damage. The state of emergency was lifted around noon Monday. In High Point, the Apple Tree Daycare and surrounding homes were damaged by the severe storms. An empty school bus was lifted from its parking space at a the day care center and dropped on its side on the sidewalk. Damage was also reported at Old Plank Road, Johnson St. and Skeet Club Road in High Point. People living in those areas have reported severe damage, including gas leaks. Jay VanKleef, 57, was talking with a neighbor late Sunday night when the storm hit his High Point neighborhood. "I was home sitting on my porch and all of a sudden I heard the proverbial freight train," he said. "It was scary." The storm shook items off his walls and toppled two pine trees that blocked the road near VanKleef's house. Nearby, in the Blairwood Estates subdivision, strong winds blew the entire second floor of a home askew and knocked half the second story onto the ground. High Point Regional Hospital treated four people for minor injuries sustained during the storms. Shelters were opened at Seventh Day Adventist Church on Eastchester Road in High Point and at North Davidson High School in Lexington for people displaced by the severe weather. Fourteen people stayed overnight Sunday in the High Point shelter, and officials said they would keep it open again Monday night. Orrock said the tornado is likely the strongest to hit North Carolina since the one that hit Stoneville in March 1998. "Had this been a nighttime event, had this come through at two or three in the morning, it could've been a different story," the meteorologist said.
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