Raleigh North Carolina News

NASH COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) — The destruction left in the wake of Wednesday’s EF-3 tornado shocked communities in Nash County. “I’ve never witnessed the damage that this tornado did,” said Todd Wells, assistant fire chief at the Red Oaks Volunteer Fire Department. “I look at the trees and you take a tree that I can’t wrap my arms around and it’s snapped off like a matchstick. I can’t believe it.” Wells has lived and worked…

Thursday, July 20, 2023 11:21PM ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WTVD) — Neighbors told ABC11 that when they got home Wednesday night, their Nash County community looked like a war zone. Debris lined the road. In the aftermath of the tornado, it’s been about neighbors helping neighbors. Roofing workers out of a company in Wilson offered free tarping services because they said the community needs their help. Another man said he didn’t get to lay his mother…

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — St. Stephen’s Loving Daycare Center in Rocky Mount has some repairs to do after Wednesday’s EF3 tornado damaged the ceiling and shattered a window. “We saw the devastation of everything,” Carolyn Slade said. As the tornado approached, there were 67 children playing inside at the day care center at 3861 North Wesleyan Blvd. in Rocky Mount. No one was injured thanks to quick actions of Slade and her staff. “Of course,…

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — It had been 56 years since North Carolina had seen a tornado in July had wrecked the kind of havoc that we saw on Wednesday in Nash and Edgecombe counties. The only other EF3 tornado to occur in July in North Carolina was on July 4, 1967, in Gates County, according to WRAL meteorologist Aimee Wilmoth. The National Weather Service confirmed the EF3 tornado had estimated peak winds of 150 mph…

Thursday, July 20, 2023 10:21PM BATTLEBORO, N.C. (WTVD) — Dozens of homes and a pair of churches were damaged along the Nash-Edgecombe county line when a tornado tore through the community Wednesday. One of the homes damaged belongs to Edgecombe County Commissioner Evelyn Powell. Powell was not home at the time, but her husband was. He heard about the tornado on the news and managed to get inside, shut the door and move to safety…

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — People are picking up the pieces after a violent tornado ripped through Nash and Edgecombe counties Wednesday, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. Just before 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, a tornado touched down north of Rocky Mount, near the Battleboro and Dortches communities. Dozens of homes and buildings were damaged or destroyed, including the Pfizer plant in Rocky Mount. There are now 16 confirmed injuries – 13 in Nash…

Thursday, July 20, 2023 7:46PM ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WTVD) — As the cleanup process begins in Nash County, community members and crews are out at the scene of the destruction offering help in the rebuilding. It’s hard to think anyone would take advantage of homeowners who already lost so much to the tornado, but unfortunately, when money is involved, it happens. Helen Manning has lived in her home for 9 years. She has made improvements…

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WTVD) — The fallout from a Pfizer plant being damaged by a tornado could put even more pressure on already-strained drug supplies at U.S. hospitals, experts said. Wednesday’s tornado touched down near Rocky Mount and ripped up the roof of a Pfizer factory that makes nearly 25% of all sterile injectable medicines used in U.S. hospitals, according to the drugmaker. Pfizer said all employees were safely evacuated and accounted for, and that…

Thursday, July 20, 2023 5:39PM ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WTVD) — The EF-3 tornado that touched down Wednesday came with a warning for some, but not 10 men out at Belmont Lake Golf Course. “I was scared… all of us were scared,” said Pat Smith. The group left their phones in their cars and in a matter of minutes, everything changed. They jumped in the golf cart and searched for shelter. “And that tree fell in…

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — People are picking up the pieces after a violent tornado ripped through Nash and Edgecombe counties Wednesday, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. Just before 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, a tornado touched down north of Rocky Mount, near the Battleboro and Dortches communities. Dozens of homes and buildings were damaged or destroyed, including the Pfizer plant in Rocky Mount. There are now 16 confirmed injuries — 13 in Nash…

Weather Many people who were in the path of this storm are working through the shock of seeing their homes and businesses destroyed. Crews are working on cleaning up the destruction left behind by the tornado that hit north of Rocky Mount on Wednesday.

Thursday, July 20, 2023 11:19AM RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — There is a marginal risk (level 1 of 5) of severe thunderstorms Thursday afternoon and evening. The main threat is damaging wind. Downpours and small hail will also be possible. Storm coverage is leaning a bit more spotty in our area through the day. But, any storms that develop could be strong to severe. Friday brings a break from the severe weather threat. Highs will be…

Thursday, July 20, 2023 2:13AM RED OAK, N.C. (WTVD) — The American Red Cross opened a shelter to families and individuals whose homes were hit by an EF-3 tornado Wednesday. Many people in Nash and Edgecombe counties are still without power after an EF-3 tornado tore through homes and city buildings. The American Red Cross has set up a temporary shelter at Red Oak Baptist Church, 5515 Red Oak Road in Red Oak to aid…