COLUMBUS COUNTY, N.C. (WWAY) — We’ve had some stormy weather move through southeastern North Carolina in the last couple of days. Heavy rain and severe thunderstorms drenched parts of Brunswick County, including Leland, as strong storms pushed across the region.

Then on Saturday, radar imagery captured the moments before a tornado briefly touched down near Delco School Road.

The red on the radar indicates the heaviest rainfall as the storm tracked east-northeast.

Meteorologist/Reporter Charles McKeller explains how the tornado quickly developed seemingly out of nowhere.

A tornado touched down Saturday afternoon in Delco, leaving behind scattered damage and surprising both residents and meteorologists in Columbus County.

Reporter Charles McKeller said he was at the area where the tornado first touched down near 356 Delco School Road, where tree limbs were down on power lines, trees had fallen behind nearby fencing and debris was scattered along both sides of the roadway.

The tornado touched down around 3:23 p.m. behind Junk Gypsies, a vintage restoration shop in Delco. Co-owner Jeff Jones said he was building shelves when strong winds suddenly moved through the area.

“I’m like what in the world is going on. The trees were bending. I saw all this trash and stuff blowing real fast I didn’t know what it was. It was crazy something I never experienced,” Jones said.

Joseph Kearney captured video of the tornado as it moved toward McPherson’s ACME General Store, where propane tanks and other property were damaged.

A metal awning was destroyed; tires were thrown across the property and wooden boards were sent flying through the air. One board punched through a storage building, leaving a hole in the structure.

Jordan Baker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the tornado developed quickly and caught him off guard.

“When you’ve got that much energy packed into a small area, winds can get fairly intense pretty quickly,” Baker said.

That’s what it did as the tornado later moved toward the 1225 block of Fertilizer Road.

Meteorologist/Reporter Charles McKeller said it ended out with a big bang as he went out to the site seeing significant roof damage, fallen trees, and limbs.

With hurricane season approaching — and tornadoes possible within tropical systems — The National Weather Service is encouraging residents to prepare ahead of time and closely monitor weather updates, watches and warnings.

Fortunately, there were no injuries or deaths reported.

COLUMBUS COUNTY, N.C. (WWAY) — A brief tornado was reported in Columbus County on Saturday, according to emergency officials.

Columbus County 911 said a citizen at McPherson’s Acme General, located at 1355 Old Stage Road, reported seeing the tornado briefly touch down in the area.

Officials also said a propane tank was damaged during the storm. Pieces of metal from a damaged shed covering were reportedly scattered across the roadway.

It is unclear if anyone was injured. WWAY reached out to Columbus County Emergency Services for information about possible injuries but had not received a response as of publication.

The National Weather Service has not yet confirmed the tornado or released any information about its strength or potential rating.

WWAY will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.

RALEIGH, NC (WWAY) — Gov. Josh Stein and state emergency officials are urging North Carolinians to prepare for potentially dangerous severe weather as the National Weather Service has issued a rare Level 4 moderate risk for parts of the state.

Officials said the storm system could bring damaging wind gusts of 74 mph or higher, large hail and tornadoes.

“Unusually severe weather is moving into North Carolina, bringing a risk of damaging wind gusts, thunderstorms, hail, and even tornadoes,” Stein said in a statement. “Please make sure emergency alerts are enabled on your phone and make a plan for how to keep yourself and your family safe.”

The severe weather risk stretches statewide, according to officials. Central North Carolina is under a Level 4 moderate risk, eastern North Carolina and the foothills are under a Level 3 enhanced risk, and parts of the mountains are under a Level 2 slight risk.

In response, North Carolina Emergency Management has activated State Emergency Response Team personnel and resources ahead of the storm’s arrival. The State Emergency Operations Center is monitoring forecasts and stands ready to deploy assistance to communities if needed.

Officials said available resources include Urban Search and Rescue teams, hazardous materials regional response teams, statewide firefighting resources, elements of the N.C. Forest Service and medical response assets through the Office of Emergency Medical Services.

“While North Carolina is no stranger to severe weather, the introduction of a Level 4 out of 5 moderate threat is very rare in our state,” NC Emergency Management Director Will Ray said in a statement. “It is imperative that all North Carolinians have a plan to protect themselves and their families and stay informed to take action when necessary.”

State officials are encouraging residents to enable emergency alerts on their cell phones, monitor local news and follow the National Weather Service and local emergency management offices for updates. They also recommend families make a plan now for where to take shelter if a tornado warning is issued.

(AP) — A deadly tornado that tore across North Dakota this summer has been upgraded to an EF5 with winds over 200 mph, the strongest classification of tornado and the first on American soil in 12 years, meteorologists said Monday.

The tornado on June 20 in Enderlin caused significant damage across the region and killed three people. The tornado touched down on the ground for just over 12 miles (19 kilometers), and at its largest, was 1.05 miles wide (1.69 kilometers).

Meteorologists from the National Weather Service in Grand Forks estimated that the tornado had winds in excess of 210 mph (338 kph), according to a Weather Service analysis released on Monday.

The 1999 Bridge-Creek Moore tornado in Oklahoma holds the record of the strongest winds ever recorded at 321 mph (517 kph).

Since the National Weather Service began using Enhanced Fujita scale in 2007, there have been 10 tornadoes categorized as EF5.

“In the last kind of 12 years, there’s been several strong tornadoes that have come close, but there haven’t been known damage indicators at that time to support the EF5 rating,” said Melinda Beerends, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in Grand Forks. “It’s hard sometimes to get tornadoes to hit something.”

This summer’s tornado destroyed farmsteads, tipped over fully-loaded rail cars, toppled transmission towers and uprooted trees. One tanker car had been flung far from the rest.

Meteorologists from the Grand Forks office headed into the field the following morning to examine the damage. It usually takes from days to weeks to determine the strength of a tornado by its wind speed, which meteorologists do by examining the damage to buildings and trees. This tornado took much longer to analyze because the damage it inflicted on the rail cars was unusual.

The initial estimate for the tornado in the days afterward was an EF3.

The tornado was caused by warm, moist air in place which is ripe for a thunderstorm, Beerends said. But there was also a high amount of wind shear, which is a variation of wind speed and direction that created the conditions for the tornado.

Two men and a woman were killed at two locations near Enderlin, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Fargo. Thousands of homes lost power during the storm.

One farmstead had its foundation swept clean, with just the basement remaining and debris scattered downwind.

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The National Weather Service has confirmed an EF-0 tornado touched down west of Holden Beach.

It happened around 5:45 p.m. Thursday evening.

Officials said a waterpout associated with a tornadic thunderstorm over water moved onshore near the 1200 block of Ocean Boulevard West.

Officials estimate the tornado was about a tenth of a mile long and 50 yards wide with a peak wind speed of 55 miles per hour.

No injuries were reported.

The National Weather Service said there was minor damage to several palm trees, and several pieces of beach furniture were tossed around before the tornado dissipated over the dune line.

A statement from the Town says: “It appears that Sewer Lift Station 4 was impacted by a lighting strike yesterday evening. Public Works crews have been working diligently throughout the night and today to keep the system running without interruption. They will continue to work on repairs throughout the weekend and into next week.”

LELAND, NC (WWAY) — The third named storm of the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season, Tropical Storm Chantal, developed off the southeast coast Saturday morning.

Tropical storm warnings have been issued for Brunswick County, New Hanover County, and Pender County coastal areas and coastal waters. As well as for Horry County and Georgetown County in South Carolina.

Tropical storm conditions will be felt as early as Saturday afternoon and continuing through Sunday. Winds could reach as high as about 60 mph along the coast. Strong winds may cause downed trees and power outages.

As Chantal tracks through the Carolinas, the main concerns are hazardous marine conditions, potential for flash flooding, and a low risk for tornadoes.

High risks for rip currents at all of our beaches will continue through Monday.

Rain could be heavy at times and totaling between 2-4 inches with isolated higher totals. There is a chance for isolated flash flooding with the heavy rain. Flood prone and low-lying areas are more at risk.

There is a low risk for isolated tornadoes to spin up with Chantal. If there is a tornado warning remember to act quickly. Get to the most interior room in your house and away from windows until the warning expires.

Brunswick, Horry, and Georgetown counties have the potential to see 1-3 feet of storm surge.

Download the StormTrack3 Weather App to stay updated on Tropical Storm Chantal.

ATLANTA (AP) — With new innovations and technology, scientists have learned from major tornado outbreaks over the years how to improve safety guidance. During tornado season, forecasters try to get the word out about staying safe during a storm — but also planning for it ahead of time.

Tornado seasons typically begin at different times in different parts of the United States.

In what has historically been known as Tornado Alley — a designation that typically includes Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas — the peak of tornado season is May into early June. But the season starts earlier in what’s often called Dixie Alley, made up of southern states such as Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.

The idea of a tornado alley can be misleading, since tornadoes have been reported in all 50 states. About 1,200 tornadoes strike the U.S. every year, and each year violent twisters happen outside these traditional “alleys” of tornado outbreaks, according to the National Severe Storms Laboratory. Recent twisters have even struck in places unaccustomed to them, such as one near Los Angeles in 2023 that tore apart rooftops and injured one person.

When a tornado takes aim at your house, and the sirens are sounding, the dogs are barking and the children are screaming, there are some last-minute precautions that could save the lives of you and your loved ones.

Experts also recommend a few simple steps to prepare well before the twister is on your doorstep. Here’s a look at some tornado safety tips:

How do I get emergency updates?

Weather radios, specialized receivers that get alerts and can sound an alarm in an emergency, are something that every home and business should have, said Rick Smith, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s forecast office in Norman, Oklahoma.

“It does feel like old-school technology, but they are lifesaving devices,” Smith said.

Radios can be particularly valuable in the South, where many tornadoes strike at night when people are sleeping. “This can wake you up in the middle of the night with the alarm,” Smith said.

The National Weather Service encourages people to have multiple ways of being warned, which can include weather radios, a cellphone app or other method in case power is lost. Redundancy is key, Smith said.

Where should I take shelter?

The ideal places to take shelter are enclosed, underground shelters and basements, or a safe room above ground that’s designed to withstand tornadic winds.

But many people don’t have that option — in Oklahoma, for example, the clay soil makes building basements expensive, so lots of homes don’t have them.

If you have to be above ground in a tornado, “your goal is to put as many walls and barriers between you and the outside as you possibly can,” Smith said.

Smith recommends using mattresses, couch cushions or other sturdy items to protect yourself from deadly flying or falling debris. Bicycle or sports helmets can provide crucial head protection. It’s important that they are stored in a convenient place so they can be retrieved quickly, when you have only minutes or seconds before the storm strikes.

A car seat can help protect a small child, Smith says, and can be brought inside ahead of time.

How can I keep my home safe?

Recent research has shown that closing your home’s garage door and all interior doors could ease the high winds inside somewhat by compartmentalizing them, according to Smith. Doing so is recommended during thunderstorms and tornadoes by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety.

That’s the opposite of a commonly held misconception: “There’s still a chunk of people out there who think you’re supposed to open the doors and windows to equalize the pressure,” Smith said.

It’s also important to prepare for the tornado’s aftermath, when you might emerge from a home or shelter to find downed trees and power lines and shredded buildings. Dress for disaster, such as wearing long pants and sturdy shoes, to make it easier to safely navigate treacherous terrain.

An emergency kit of essentials like drinking water and nonperishable food items is also a good idea.

What should I do if I’m driving?

Don’t look to Hollywood for sound tornado safety practices. The recent Hollywood film “Twisters” shows the characters sprinting toward a highway underpass as a tornado approaches.

If you are in a car or truck, “you really don’t have a lot of good options at that point,” Smith said. “Try not to get caught in that situation.”

The best thing to do is get off the road and try to find a building. If there’s nowhere to go, there are no guaranteed safe options.

When it comes to ditches, overpasses or staying inside a car, “people have survived doing all of those, people have died doing all of those,” Smith said. “I’ve seen cars rolled up into unrecognizable balls of metal.”

(AP) — Violent storms and tornadoes tore through cities from Oklahoma to Indiana during what could be a record-setting period of deadly weather and flooding, destroying homes and sending debris nearly 5 miles into the air in one location.

Dozens of tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings were issued Wednesday and early Thursday from Texas to West Virginia as storms hit those and other states. Forecasters attributed the violent weather to daytime heating combining with an unstable atmosphere, strong wind shear and abundant moisture streaming into the nation’s midsection from the Gulf.

Sgt. Clark Parrott of the Missouri Highway Patrol said at least one person was killed in southeast Missouri, KFVS-TV reported, while part of a warehouse collapsed in a suburb of Indianapolis, temporarily trapping at least one person inside. In northeast Arkansas a rare tornado emergency was issued as debris flew thousands of feet in the air.

The Tennessee Department of Health confirmed two weather-related fatalities, one in McNairy County and the other in Obion County, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency announced early Thursday.

A man was killed in a home damaged by the storm near Moscow, Tennessee, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Memphis, according to Ray Garcia, chief deputy of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office. Garcia also reported downed trees and power lines in the county, and officials are preparing for more rain and strong storms Thursday.

“It looks like a swimming pool in my front yard,” he told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

The coming days were also forecast to bring the risk of potentially deadly flash flooding to the South and Midwest as severe thunderstorms blowing eastward become supercharged. The potent storm system will bring “significant, life-threatening flash flooding” each day through Saturday, the National Weather Service said.

With more than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain possible over the next four days, the prolonged deluge “is an event that happens once in a generation to once in a lifetime,” the weather service said. “Historic rainfall totals and impacts are possible.”

More than 90 million people were at some risk of severe weather in a huge part of the nation stretching from Texas to Minnesota and Maine, according to the Oklahoma-based Storm Prediction Center.

Tornadoes touch down, and more could be coming

A tornado emergency — the weather service’s highest alert — was briefly declared around Blytheville, Arkansas, on Wednesday evening, with debris lofted at least 25,000 feet (7.6 kilometers), according to Chelly Amin, a meteorologist with the service.

“It’s definitely going to be a really horrible situation here come sunrise in the morning in those areas,” Amin said.

The Arkansas Division of Emergency Management reported that there was damage in 22 counties due to tornadoes, wind gusts, hail and flash flooding. At least four people were injured, but there were no reports of fatalities as of Wednesday evening.

Volunteer firefighters and police officers in Lake City, Arkansas, searched through rubble and rescued people overnight. No one was seriously injured, but residents were without electricity and some were also without water, Mayor Cameron Tate said in a Thursday morning Facebook post.

City Council member Brenda Hutcheson was in nearby Jonesboro when the tornado struck her hometown Lake City, a community of about 2,400 in the northeast corner of the state.

“The community itself is very, very close-knit and will help one another,” she said early Thursday. “They will pull together and make this happen, and neighbors will take care of one another.”

Four people were injured in Kentucky when a church was hit by debris from a suspected tornado, according to Ballard County Emergency Management. One person was in critical condition, while the others have non-life-threatening injuries.

Warehouse collapse is part of damage in Indiana

Two workers were injured at a Sur La Table distribution center in Brownsburg, Indiana, that was significantly damaged in the storm Wednesday, a company spokesperson said in a statement.

Emergency crews worked for several hours to free a trapped worker at the distribution center, where the roof and a wall collapsed.

“It was just heavy debris that had fallen on top of her,” Brownsburg Fire Department spokesperson Kamrick Holding told WTHR-TV. “She happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The woman was conscious and talking to a doctor during the rescue and was taken to a hospital. Her condition was not immediately known.

Five semitrucks were blown over on Interstate 65 near Lowell, Indiana, state police reported.

Indianapolis Public Schools announced a remote learning day Thursday due to power outages at multiple buildings. At least 10 districts in Indiana have canceled or delayed in-person classes Thursday.

A tornado touched down in the northeastern Oklahoma city of Owasso on Wednesday, according to the weather service. There were no immediate reports of injuries, but the twister heavily damaged the roofs of homes and knocked down power lines, trees, fences and sheds.

Power was knocked out to more than a half million customers in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, West Virginia, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas as of Thursday morning, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.

Floods could inundate towns, sweep cars away

A line of thunderstorms dropped heavy rain through parts of Indiana on Wednesday night. At least one street was flooded in Indianapolis, with water nearly reaching the windows of several cars, according to the city’s metropolitan police department. No one was in the vehicles.

Additional rounds of heavy rain were expected in parts of Texas, the lower Mississippi Valley and the Ohio Valley from midweek through Saturday. Forecasters warned that they could track over the same areas repeatedly, producing dangerous flash floods capable of sweeping cars away.

Rain totaling up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) was forecast over the next seven days in northeastern Arkansas, the southeast corner of Missouri, western Kentucky and southern parts of Illinois and Indiana, the weather service warned, with some areas in Kentucky and Indiana at an especially high risk for flooding.

ATLANTA (AP) — U.S. government forecasters are using a relatively rare “high-risk” designation — the highest category they use — to warn that a major tornado outbreak appears likely Wednesday in an area that’s home to about 2.5 million people.

That area most at risk of catastrophic weather on Wednesday includes parts of west Tennessee including Memphis; northeast Arkansas; the southeast corner of Missouri; and parts of western Kentucky and southern Illinois.

The Norman, Oklahoma-based Storm Prediction Center says that “multiple long-track EF3+ tornadoes, appear likely.” Tornadoes of that magnitude are among the strongest on the Enhanced Fujita scale, used to rate their intensity.

Historically, the “high-risk” designation has been used sparingly, but it did appear just a couple of weeks ago to warn of a deadly tornado outbreak in mid-March.

Magenta marks areas at highest risk

The Storm Prediction Center uses five categories to warn of expected severe weather, ranging from marginal to high. Its forecast maps are color-coded, with the lowest risk areas in green and the highest shown in magenta.

The “high risk” designation is used when severe weather is expected to include “numerous intense and long-tracked tornadoes” or thunderstorms producing hurricane-force wind gusts and inflicting widespread damage, according to the agency.

On many days when the “high risk” designation was used in recent years, the forecasts became reality.

2024 Kansas and Oklahoma tornado outbreak

On May, 6, 2024, the Storm Prediction Center assigned the high-risk category to parts of Kansas and Oklahoma, warning of “multiple significant tornadoes along potentially long paths.”

The forecast was prescient, as dozens of tornadoes gouged the landscape. One of the strongest twisters tore through the small town of Barnsdall, Oklahoma and then struck the larger community of Bartlesville.

Aerial video showed many homes reduced to piles of rubble. About 25 people were rescued from homes where buildings had collapsed on or around them, the town’s mayor said at the time.

2023 Mississippi River Valley tornadoes

On March 31, 2023, the Storm Prediction Center outlined two areas along the Mississippi River Valley at high risk for tornadoes.

Hours after that forecast was issued, multiple twisters collapsed a theater roof during a heavy metal concert in Illinois and shredded homes and shopping centers in Arkansas.

A roof collapse at the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere, Illinois, killed one person and injured more than two dozen others. About 260 people were in the venue at the time, the local fire chief said.

In all, 146 tornadoes from the 2023 outbreak were confirmed, making it the third-largest tornado outbreak on record in the U.S., the National Weather Service said. More than two dozen people were killed and dozens of others injured.

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Some residents in the Cape Fear are cleaning up damage after a strong storm made its way through the area Sunday night.

One area that was hit hard was Pender County, where an EF1 tornado, with wind gusts up to 95 mph, traveled more than 3 miles on the ground near Burgaw.

Just before 7:30 pm, a tornado touched down just south of Herrings Chapel Road and moved northeast.

The tornado knocked down many trees along its path.

Patrick Loid lives less than a mile from where the tornado crossed Herrings Chapel Road.

He was surprised to see all the damage so close to his home.

“They’re starting to become more frequent so, it’s definitely an eye-opener to take this stuff serious,” Loid said. “Storms are getting worse, weather is getting bad, I mean, alarms go off, get prepared.”

The tornado also hit the Washing Hunting Club, where around 50 dogs escaped from their kennels.

The club’s vice president said all the dogs have been found and are okay.

Meanwhile, in Hampstead, County Deputy Fire Marshal Townsend Link said that fire crews responded to a fishing boat struck by lightning on Washington Acres Road.

It happened just before 11 pm Sunday.

“They found a 40-foot center console offshore fishing boat. It was fully involved at the time,” Link said. “The owner stated that there was about 300 gallons of gasoline in it. So Pender EMS and Fire was first to arrive on scene, they had a knockdown of the fire and worked hard to make sure it gets extinguished.”

Link said the boat was a total loss.

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A tornado touched down in Pender County Sunday night.

The National Weather Service confirmed the tornado Monday morning during a storm survey.

Crews say damage was found along Herrings Chapel Road. They’re still in the process of determining the tornado’s track and intensity.

We’ll provide an update on that information when it’s made available.

The tornado was produced from the only tornado warning the Cape Fear saw on Sunday from a big cluster of storms. WWAY was live on air during the entirety of the event to provide the latest updates.

CBS News— A sprawling storm system crossing the U.S. on Friday overturned semitrucks on highways and fanned wildfires in Texas and Oklahoma, where officials called for evacuations in at least one town. Tornado threats loomed for the Mississippi Valley into the night and the Deep South on Saturday.

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — March 2nd through the 8th is severe weather preparedness week in North Carolina, with each day focusing on a different topic. 

The topic’s range from severe thunderstorms and tornadoes to lightning and flood safety.  

In the Cape Fear, we experience many different types of hazardous weather including tornados and hail. 

Meteorologist Steven Pfaff with the national weather service in Wilmington says it is best to have a plan for you and your family.   

“Have a plan, what to do, where to go if severe thunderstorm warnings or tornado warnings are issued for your area. The plan that we want everybody to have that encompasses all those different types of hazards, not just the hurricanes, it’s the other types of hazardous weather we could experience,” Pfaff said.  

As a reminder, the statewide tornado drill that was originally scheduled for Wednesday will now be Friday, March 7th at 9:30am due to the threat of severe weather. 

Hurricane preparedness week is in May and the start of hurricane season June 1st.

BLADEN COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — In Bladen County, officials are working to determine whether an actual tornado touched down.

Helltown Road in Garland has been closed due to damage from today’s storm.

Around 11 o’clock this morning, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Bladen County. Just 30 minutes later, trees fell, blocking both sides of the road and taking down a power line in the process.

We dispatched a reporter to the scene, where crews from Four County Electric Membership Corporation and the State Department of Transportation are clearing the roadway and re-hanging power lines.

Prentice Madgar, the fire marshal for Sampson County, emphasized the need for patience among residents.

“It’s going to be a while because there is a lot they’ve gotta do—our next step will be to talk with the National Weather Service so they can do their review with it and find out straight line winds or a tornado touchdown,” he said.

Madgar also noted that, as of now, this is the most significant damage he has seen in this area of Bladen County.

WILSON COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) — Springfield Middle School teachers are back in the building that was damaged by an EF-3 tornado that spawned from Hurricane Debby.

Crews have been there working around-the-clock to make repairs ahead of Monday when schools starts.

A temporary roof is in place and excess water has been removed, however the 6 and 7th grade wings were heavily damaged.

The district is expected to bring in mobile classrooms while those are rebuilt.

Click here to read the full article

PENDER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Heavy rain isn’t the only impact from Tropical Storm Debby as it makes its way toward North Carolina. The storm also brings with it a risk of isolated tornadoes.

On Wednesday there were a few tornado warnings throughout the WWAY viewing area.

This video, courtesy of Pender EMS/Fire, is of an apparent tornado near the Pender-Sampson County line near US Highway 421 at around 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday. No word yet on any damage.

As Debby continues to crawl throughout the state, we will continue to see bands of heavy rain rotate in, with a few embedded rotating storms not out of the question.

If you can safely grab any photos or videos of the storm, share them with us here.

COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The National Weather Service has confirmed two tornados touched down in Columbus and Bladen Counties Tuesday night. On Wednesday, WWAY spoke to one man whose property was damaged during the storm. 

“We were right here, right in the middle of it,” Johnny Meares said. 

Johnny Meares lives on Red Store Rd. in Whiteville. He was outside watching the tornado travel down his road when it changed direction and headed toward his outdoor building.   

“We heard something. The wind changed and by the time we could move for the house it and already ripped the walls out of the building here. We heard it when it hit the neighbor’s house and we had just enough time to get for the door and then the walls came out of the building,” Meares said. 

Meares said he is thankful no one was hurt. 

“It happened so fast; we didn’t even know it was coming until we heard crunching over there at the neighbor’s house and it had ripped her air conditioner off and threw it across the yard. When we heard that we knew we were about to get hit with something,” Meares said. 

He said this is the second time a tornado hit his property. He said the last time was three years ago. 

“It destroyed the shop and all of our tools the first time and it took a lot to recover from that,” Meares said. 

He said his building hit on Tuesday night was the replacement for his first shop, a tornado destroyed.  He said there will likely be some outdoor cleaning to do in the next few days, but it’s expected after an event such as this one.     

The National Weather Service said one tornado is estimated to have had a peak wind of 75 mph before lifting and touching ground again at 60 mph. High winds damaged four homes in Whiteville.  

COLUMBIA, TN (AP) — A wave of dangerous storms began washing over parts of the South early Thursday, a day after severe weather with damaging tornadoes and large hail killed at least three people in the region.

A heavy line of storms swept into Atlanta near the end of the morning rush hour. Busy hub airports in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, reported delays Thursday morning. Tornado warnings were issued for parts of Tennessee and Alabama.

The storms continue a streak of torrential rains and tornadoes this week from the Plains to the Midwest and, now, the Southeast. At least four people have died since Monday. The weather comes on the heels of a stormy April in which the U.S. had 300 confirmed tornadoes, the second-most on record for the month and the most since 2011.

Storms had already left more than a quarter-million customers without power Thursday in North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Missouri, according to PowerOutage.us.

A storm Wednesday in northeastern Tennessee damaged homes, injured people, toppled power lines and trees, and killed a 22-year-old man in a car in Claiborne County, north of Knoxville, officials said. A second person was killed south of Nashville in Columbia, the Maury County seat, where officials said a tornado had likely touched down and homes were blown off their foundations.

Bob Booth had just gotten home to Columbia from Georgia and was sitting down to watch television when he heard a “crazy racket.”

“I get up and look out, and it was all hell breaking loose outside,” Booth said. “Then the top half of one of my trees goes down across the road.”

Booth said he was told it would be a while before his power was restored. One neighbor, he said, lost all trees except one that would have destroyed his house: “So that guy is blessed.”

Schools were closed Thursday in several Tennessee counties. Some districts north of Atlanta canceled in-person classes or delayed start times because of storm damage overnight that included fallen trees on houses and vehicles around Clarkesville. No injuries were reported there.

“We’re just trying to clean up right now and wait for the next round,” said Lynn Smith, director of the Habersham County Emergency Management Agency.

Torrential rains led to a flash flood emergency and water rescues northeast of Nashville. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a temporary ground stop at Nashville’s main airport, and the weather service issued a tornado emergency, its highest alert level, for nearby areas.

In North Carolina, a state of emergency was declared Wednesday night for Gaston County, west of Charlotte, after a storm that toppled power lines and trees, including one that landed on a car. One person in the car was killed, and another was taken to a hospital, officials said.

The storms followed heavy rain, strong winds, hail and tornadoes in parts of the central U.S. on Monday, including a twister that ripped through an Oklahoma town and killed one person. On Tuesday, the Midwest took the brunt of the bad weather. Tornadoes touched down in parts of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, according to the weather service.

Michigan’s Kalamazoo area was hard hit as a FedEx facility was ripped apart, with downed power lines trapping about 50 people.

Tornadoes were also confirmed near Pittsburgh, in central Arkansas and in northern West Virginia. The West Virginia twister was at least the 11th tornado this year in the state, which sees two tornadoes in an average year.

Both the Plains and Midwest have been hammered by tornadoes this spring.

(CBS NEWS) — An Oklahoma couple now in the ICU with broken backs and necks has their 9-year-old hero son to thank after a tornado tossed their truck into trees.

Fifteen tornadoes left a trail of destruction in Oklahoma over the weekend. At least four people were killed, dozens injured and many lost their homes, businesses and belongings.

Wayne and Lindy Baker, along with their 9-year-old son Branson, were headed to Dickson, Oklahoma, just north of Marietta, to seek shelter, when a tornado suddenly picked up their truck and tossed it.

Wayne Baker’s back, neck, sternum, ribs, and arm were broken. He also lost part of a finger. Lindy Baker’s back, neck, jaw, ribs, and right hand were broken. She also suffered a punctured lung.

Somehow, Branson got out of the truck and ran over a mile in the dark, through downed power lines and debris to get help. He made it to the house of a neighbor and friend and brought him back to help his parents.

“The only way he found his way back was with lightning strikes that lit the road. He ran as fast as he could, as hard as he could, he made a mile in 10 minutes. That’s pretty impressive for a little kid,” said Branson’s uncle, Johnny Baker. “The last thing Branson told them was, ‘Mom, dad, please don’t die, I will be back.'”

Wayne and Lindy Baker are independent contractors and are now unable to work for a while due to their conditions. In response, Branson’s baseball team held a fundraiser and baseball game Monday night, with the whole team wearing stickers on their helmets in support of the family.

“With the Baker stickers put on the helmets, they helped give Branson a little motivation as well, he actually hit a home run last night,” Johnny Baker added.

“Branson is small, but he is so mighty, he is a hero,” the GoFundMe page reads.

Johnny Baker thinks his brother and sister-in-law will make a full recovery, thankful for little Branson for his quick feet and strong faith.

“He had to become his parent’s superman and go do what he had to go do. That’s exactly what he said. He said, ‘I have to save my parents,'” Johnny Baker described.

Both are recovering in the ICU at OU Medical Center. Family and friends have helped raise over $10,000 to help the family recover.

The region remained on high alert for severe weather after thunderstorms and tornadoes rolled through Friday and Saturday from Texas to the Great Lakes. About 106 tornadoes were detected in six states on Friday, with Nebraska and Iowa the hardest hit, officials said.

Officials in Pottawattamie County, in southwest Iowa by the Nebraska border, said one resident was killed and three others hurt by severe weather that hit Friday.

In Oklahoma, a tornado ripped through Holdenville, a small town of about 5,000 people, around 11 p.m. Saturday night, destroying or damaging several buildings in its path. Hughes County Emergency Medical Services said Sunday morning that at least four people were injured — three with major injuries — and two people died. The victims were an adult and a minor, it said, but did not provide any additional information.

On Sunday morning, Gov. J. Kevin Stitt declared an emergency disaster for 12 counties, including Carter, Cotton, Garfield, Hughes, Kay, Lincoln, Love, Murray, Okfuskee, Oklahoma, Payne, and Pontotoc. This will allow the state to provide the necessary help for these communities. He said in a video posted on Facebook that he plans to visit the impacted communities to assess the damage.

“You just can’t believe the destruction,” Stitt said. “It seems like every business downtown has been destroyed.”

Stitt on Sunday spoke with President Biden, who “offered the full support of the federal government,” the White House said in a statement.

In nearby Sulphur, a small town of about 5,000 people 80 miles south of Oklahoma City, at least two tornadoes were reported, while another hit Marietta and traveled directly over Interstate 35. One person was killed near Marietta, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

Tornadoes in Sulphur and Marrietta were rated at least EF3 based on preliminary survey results, the National Weather Service said Sunday.

Videos and photos emerging on social media early Sunday morning showed heavy damage across Sulphur, including scattered bricks, wooden beams and toppled trees. Buildings in the downtown area had blown-out windows and missing walls across a 15-block radius.

Red Cross Oklahoma said it was opening a shelter in Sulphur and was in contact with officials to help with the immediate needs of affected residents throughout the state.

Communities in Garfield, Grant, Kay, Payne and several other counties in Oklahoma also suffered damage to homes and other structures, officials said.

The National Weather Service in Norman said early Sunday that flash flooding was now the primary threat after the tornado warnings were lifted.

Nearly 33,000 people in Oklahoma were without power on Sunday morning, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks electric utility outages. In Texas, nearly 67,000 customers were without power.

In Kansas, the National Weather Service confirmed a “large and dangerous tornado” touched the ground near the town of Howard on Saturday afternoon.

The National Weather Service confirmed Saturday that multiple tornadoes touched down in at least three North Texas counties the day before, including three tornadoes in Navarro County. Two of them were EF1 tornadoes with wind speeds more than 100 miles per hour. The third EF0 tornado touched down north of Frost. Some homes there are leveled with trees and metal lining the area.

The Friday night tornadoes wreaked havoc in the Midwest, particularly in Nebraska and Iowa, causing a building to collapse with dozens of people inside and destroying and damaging hundreds of homes.

The sounds of chainsaws filled the air on Saturday in the Elkhorn neighborhood of Omaha, a city of 485,000 people with a metropolitan area population of about 1 million.

“We watched it touch down about 200 yards over there,” Elkhorn resident Pat Woods told CBS News. “And then we went to get shelter and we came, but we could hear it going through. When we came back up, our fence was gone and we looked over to the northwest and the whole neighborhood is gone.”

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen on Sunday issued emergency declarations for Douglas, Lancaster and Washington Counties.

The National Weather Service was still evaluating the number and strength of the twisters.

Nearly 47 million people are at risk for severe weather Sunday from east Texas northward into the upper Mississippi River Valley.