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NC gets worst of storms that swept across US
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Annina Purdy, who was inside the Lowe's hardware store in Sanford, N.C. the previous day when a tornado destroyed the building, returned to the store's parking lot on Sunday, April 17, 2011, to reclaim personal belongings from her car.
AP
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Chris Nelson, left, hugs his daughter Andrea Nelson, 15, in the parking lot in front of Lowe's hardware store in Sanford, N.C., on Sunday, April 17, 2011, a day after a tornado destroyed the building while the Nelsons were inside shopping. The Nelsons returned Sunday to reclaim their truck, back right.
Associated Press
ASKEWVILLE, N.C.
A tornado-spewing storm system that killed at least 45 people across half the country unleashed its worst fury on North Carolina, where homes broke apart, trees snapped and livestock were swept into the air. Residents in the capital city and rural hamlets alike Sunday mourned the dead, marveled at their own survival and began to clean up devastated neighborhoods.
Observers reported more than 60 tornadoes across North Carolina on Saturday, but most of the state’s 21 confirmed deaths occurred in two rural counties. A thunderstorm spawned a tornado that killed four people in southeastern Bladen County, then kept dropping tornadoes as it hopscotched more than 150 miles, eventually moving into Bertie County and killing 11 more.
Heavy winds swept some homes from their foundations, demolished others and flipped cars on tiny rural roads between Askewville and Colerain, Bertie County Manager Zee Lamb said. At least three of those who died were from the same family, he said.
The winds ripped to shreds the doublewide mobile home in Askewville where Justin Dunlow had sought shelter for his 3-year-old daughter, 5-year-old son and himself. The 23-year-old roofer, whose own mobile home nearby also was destroyed, lay on both children as the storm did its worst.
“I just started praying, and the wall fell on top of us and that’s what kept us there,“ he said. ”I can replace the house, but I can’t replace my babies. And that’s what I thought about. I’m alive. My babies are alive.“
In Bladen County, Milton McKoy had thought his mobile home in Ammon was out of the storm’s path before he saw a tornado over the tops of pine trees, lifting pigs and other animals into the sky.
“It looked just like ‘The Wizard of Oz,’” said his wife, Audrey.
The couple took shelter in the laundry room as the tornado snapped trees and carried off several homes in the neighborhood. When they stepped out, it took them a moment to figure out the twister had turned their own home around, leaving them in the backyard.
The violent weather began Thursday in Oklahoma, where two people died, before cutting across the Deep South on Friday and hitting North Carolina and Virginia on Saturday. Authorities said seven people died in Arkansas; seven in Alabama; seven in Virginia; and one in Mississippi.
More than 240 tornadoes were reported from the storm system, including 62 in North Carolina, but the National Weather Service’s final numbers could be lower because some tornadoes may have been reported more than once.
Saturday was North Carolina’s deadliest day for tornadoes since 1984, when 22 twisters killed 42 people and injured hundreds. The state emergency management agency said it had reports of 23 fatalities from Saturday’s storms, but local officials confirmed only 21 deaths with The Associated Press.