Rocky Mount woman rebuilds business a year after EF3 tornado, braces for new storm threat

Keishia Justice sheltered in a storage space, at the back of
her business on Sept. 27, 2024.

“When it came, all I heard was the sound, the howl of the
tornado, and we ran for cover,” Justice told WRAL News at the time. “When I saw my
neighbors, they were screaming for help,”

An EF3 tornado, spawned from Helene, ravaged
a shopping center in Rocky Mount. The storm destroyed more than a dozen
buildings and injured 15 people.

A year later, Justice still finds debris in and around her shop.

“I still get chills. I’m still finding glass, debris,” she said. “When the weather gets a little cloudy, I get a just a little PTSD.”

Nash County Emergency Management estimates that it took
about six months to clean up the storm damage and get some businesses back up
and running. At least one building had to be demolished. Others still remain
closed.

The
storm left her building badly damaged. Justice temporarily relocated her
business, Pretty Essentials Women’s Boutique, until she received a call from
her landlord.

“We’re like the first one on the block to come back,” she
said. “To know that I’m able to come back, be in the same place, I just feel
resilient.”

In June, about nine months after the storm, Justice said she
returned to her storefront, fully operational.  

“Happy to be home. I feel like Dorothy. There’s no place
like home,” she said.

But now, another storm is on the way.

WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner said we
could see heavy rain through Tuesday at least, and 5 inches of rain could
fall in that timeframe.

“[Last year’s] tornado spun up very quickly. With us
potentially having a storm next week, it could very easily happen again,” said Trip
Bunn, the director of Nash County Emergency Management.

Bunn recommends people have a plan.

“We have to prioritize certain things; we have to prioritize
rescues, if they are needed,” Bunn said. “It could be a while before we could get to
somebody.”