Sunset Beach, NC – At least three people died when a possible tornado hit Brunswick County before midnight, leaving a trail of damage.
The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office said the tornado hit the Seaside Road and US Highway 17 area between 11:30 pm on Monday and midnight. He remained on the ground for about 30 minutes.
More than 50 homes were damaged, most in the Ocean Ridge Plantation neighborhood of Ocean Isle Beach, where the three deaths and at least 10 injuries were reported.
“I saw devastation that I hadn’t seen in years,” said Randy Thompson, chairman of the Brunswick County Commissioners Council, during a midday press conference. “Truly, that was a disaster last night.”
Edward Conrow, director of emergency services for Brunswick County, said the search and rescue efforts were completed Tuesday morning, and authorities are conducting damage assessments.
Damage reports also included gas leaks, damaged commercial buildings and felled trees and power lines along US 17 and Old Shallotte Road, Conrow said.
The National Meteorological Service confirmed that the twister was an EF-3 tornado with winds up to 160 mph. The tornado made its way through Brunswick County and Columbus County.
The tornado was particularly dangerous because many people were sleeping when the storm started and did not have time to prepare, said Conrow.
“We received a minimum warning,” he said, noting that the storm was already on the ground when the Meteorological Service alerted local authorities. “[Weather Service meteorologists] they were very surprised at how quickly this storm intensified. This is something they don’t normally see. “
Kate Gentle, a Brunswick County resident who lives five minutes from where the tornado landed, told WRAL News that she spent Monday night at her son’s lacrosse game and had no idea there was going to be a storm.
According to Gentle, when the family got home, they experienced strong, regular thunder and lightning. Then, Gentle said, everything was quiet. She put the kids in a closet and just before the tornado warning arrived.
“You could say that something was not right,” she said.
Gentle’s family and home escaped danger, but she said she was “heartbroken” for people in her community who were not so lucky.
Reverend Dwight Reeves, pastor of the Seaside Christian Fellowship, found his church’s roof ripped off Tuesday morning.
“It’s life changing,” said Reeves of the storm. “You know things like that happen in life, but you never expect it to actually show up at your door right now. We always see other people with destruction in the neighborhood. Now, to see, I have more compassion for these people. “
Church member Scott Blackmon went to help clean up Tuesday morning after escaping unscathed overnight.
“The wind and thunder increased with lightning and we lost energy,” said Blackmon, who lives less than a kilometer from the church. “We heard the roar and literally jumped in the tub like you heard on TV.”
Sheriff John Ingram asked people who do not own property or are not helping victims to avoid the area while teams work to clear the streets.
Conrow said the sheriff’s office would establish access points to keep non-residents out of the Ocean Ridge area.
Corey Thurlow of Brunswick Electric Membership Corp. said the force of the storm caused major damage to the county’s transmission system by knocking down poles and trees and impacting some 35,000 customers at its peak.
Power was restored to about 10,000 members before 2 am, Thurlow said, but some outages will occur until Tuesday afternoon.
“Our priority is to restore power to all of our members in our service area as quickly and safely as possible,” said Thurlow. “Our thoughts are with people who have suffered losses as a result of these storms.”
An estimated 140,000 people live in Brunswick County in 2019, according to the U.S. Census.
The storm is part of a larger climate system that is bringing extremely low temperatures to much of the United States, including a paralyzing ice storm that hit Texas, causing huge power cuts.