Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Tornado Confirmed In Stokes County

EF1 Tornado Confirmed Packing Winds Up To 100 MPH

POSTED: 8:31 am EDT October 27, 2010
UPDATED: 5:28 pm EDT October 27, 2010

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Officials with the National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado touched down in Stokes County overnight Wednesday. Click To View More Images NWS officials said the storm was rated at EF1 on the Fujita scale that measures the intensity of such storms. An EF1 tornado has winds between 86 mph and 110 mph.Officials said the tornado was about 200 yards wide, cutting a swath of destruction more than 2 miles long.

Tornado Confirmed In Stokes Co.

Storms Damage Buildings

Fire Marshall Discusses Storm Damage

It touched down on Mountain View Church Road as an EF0, then continued until reaching its maximum strength and width at Flat Shoals Road, officials said.Damage was mainly to trees, snapping the tops of numerous pine trees.The hardest hit area was on Flat Shoals and Friendship roads in Stokes County. Stokes County fire officials said the tornado knocked down trees and power lines, damaging at least 15 structures and four cars. A tree also fell on a car port, flattening it."We have several buildings that have quite a bit of damage and about four vehicles that we know of right now. Lots of trees are down," said Stokes County Fire Marshal Frankie Burcham.Officials with the NWS surveyed the damage during the day on Wednesday.Trees were also downed in Forsyth and Davie counties and flooding was reported overnight near some apartments on Bethania Station Road in Winston-Salem.In Henry County, no one was injured when wind lifted a garage onto a home.No injuries were reported in the Triad.Emergency management officials said 11 people were hurt and at least eight homes damaged by storms in Lincoln County. Officials believe a tornado may have touched down.Bob Bruce with the National Weather Service Office in Greer, S.C., said the storm was reported around 7 p.m. Tuesday about 10 miles northwest of Lincolnton. Eleven people were taken to hospitals. Bruce said three homes were destroyed and five others damaged. A number of vehicles were damaged and trees were down. A tornado watch remained in effect until 10 a.m. Wednesday in much of western North Carolina and northwestern South Carolina. Bruce said more storms were possible later Wednesday. The storm also blew off roofs and flipped tractor-trailers on their sides in the Catawba County town of Claremont