Sunset Beach, N.C. — At least three people died when a possible tornado touched down in Brunswick County before midnight, leaving a trail of damage.
The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office said the tornado touched down in the area of Seaside Road and U.S. Highway 17 between 11:30 p.m. Monday and 12 a.m. It was on the ground for about 30 minutes.
More than 50 homes were damaged, most in the Ocean Ridge Plantation neighborhood in Ocean Isle Beach, where the three deaths and at least 10 injuries were reported.
“I saw devastation I have not seen in many years,” Randy Thompson, chairman of the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners, said during a noon news conference. “Truly this was a disaster last night.”
Edward Conrow, Brunswick County’s emergency services director, said search and rescue efforts were completed Tuesday morning, and officials were conducting damage assessments.
Damage reports also included gas leaks, damaged commercial buildings and downed trees and power lines along U.S. 17 and Old Shallotte Road, Conrow said.
The National Weather Service confirmed the twister was an EF-3 tornado with winds up to 160 mph. The tornado carved a path across Brunswick County and into Columbus County.
The tornado was particularly dangerous because many people were sleeping when the storm hit and had no time to prepare, Conrow said.
“We had very minimal warning,” he said, noting the storm was already on the ground by the time the Weather Service alerted local authorities. “[Weather Service meteorologists] were very surprised at how rapidly this storm intensified. That’s something they normally don’t see.”
Brunswick County resident Kate Gentle, who lives five minutes from where the tornado touched down, told WRAL News she had spent Monday evening 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 heavy, regular thunder and lightning. Then, Gentle said, everything got quiet. She put her children in a closet and right before the tornado warning came through.
“You could tell something wasn’t right,” she said.
Gentle’s family and home escaped harm, but she said she was “heartbroken” for people in her community who weren’t as lucky.
Rev. Dwight Reeves, pastor of Seaside Christian Fellowship, found the roof ripped off his church Tuesday morning.
“It’s life-changing,” Reeves said of the storm. “You know things in life like this happen, but you never expect it to actually show up at your door this time. We always see other people with destruction in the neighborhood. Now, to see it, I have more compassion for those folks.”
Church member Scott Blackmon went to help clean up Tuesday morning after escaping unharmed during the night.
“The wind and the thunder increased with the lightning, and we lost power,” said Blackmon, who lives less than a mile from the church. “We heard the roar, and we literally jumped in the tub like you hear about on TV.”
Sheriff John Ingram asked people who are not property owners or who are not assisting victims to avoid the area as crews work to clear streets.
Conrow said the sheriff’s office would set up access points to keep non-residents out of the Ocean Ridge area.
Corey Thurlow with Brunswick Electric Membership Corp. said the storm’s strength caused extensive damage to the county’s transmission system by toppling poles and trees and impacted around 35,000 customers at its peak.
Power was restored to around 10,000 members before 2 a.m., Thurlow said, but some outages will be in place until Tuesday afternoon.
“Our priority is to restore power to all of our members across our service area as quickly and safely as possible,” Thurlow said. “Our thoughts are with the individuals who have suffered loss as a result of these storms.”
About 140,000 people were estimated to live in Brunswick County in 2019, according to the US Census.
The storm is part of the larger weather system that is bringing brutally cold temperatures to much of the U.S., including a paralyzing ice storm that has walloped Texas, causing massive power outages.