Clean Up Continues as 2 Tornadoes Confirmed

IREDELL CO., N.C. – Richard and Chris Somers of Cool Springs were on vacation at Myrtle Beach Wednesday when a tornado touched down in Cool Springs, NC and ripped the roof of their home right off. Chris says, “(It was) heartbreaking. ‘Bout all you can say. (I’m) just glad we weren’t here.”

Friends and family are helping them salvage their belongings. Richard says, “There’s no telling what coulda happened if we had been in the house, that’s for sure.”

Nearby, the Somers’ neighbor points to a lot of splintered lumber in her backyard. She told us, “That’s her (the Somers’) roof! This is the inside of her house! From her home! This is not from my house!”

The Red Cross and other emergency responders were on the ground Thursday, surveying damage and helping in Iredell County. They say only one person was hurt by the tornado here, a driver, on Mocksville Highway, and his injuries were minor. “The vehicle was picked up, slammed to the ground on the right side of the roadway, picked back up a second time, lifted, to what the driver said was about ten to 15 feet in the air, and dropped 30 to 40 feet from the original location,” says Kent Greene with Iredell County Emergency Management.

In Union County, Monroe resident Daniel Scott said he was headed to the grocery store when he heard what sounded like a jet engine and saw a swirling cloud. “Then all of a sudden, within seconds, it was already here, and I was trying to get back in the house before it hit,” he says.

Crews were working with chain saws Thursday, in windy conditions, to clean up. It’ll take more time to fix the peeled back siding, ripped out insulation, damaged roof tops and homes. But people here are grateful. Larry McCray says, “Coulda been a lot worse. The house coulda been destroyed.”

The National Weather Service says the the Union County tornado was an EF1 with winds up to 100 miles per hour.