GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — To some, March 28 might be a normal day. But to others, it’s the memory of something tragic.
On March 28, 1984, an F-4 tornado touched down in Pitt County. Lyman Hardee, a retired fire chief of Eastern Pines, remembers it all too well, saying it’s one of those days he will never forget.
“Every Wednesday night we had we play bingo to raise money for the fire department. And we were playing bingo that night.”
33 Years Ago: 1984 tornado outbreak devastates eastern Carolina
Randy Gentry, a former sheriff deputy and Pitt County Emergency Management director said he was off the evening of the storm.
“I was actually off that evening that the storms came through,” Gentry said. “I’ve been trying to remember exactly why I was trying to call the sheriff’s office. And I kept dialing the number and no one would answer.”
After no answer, that’s when his instincts kicked in.
“Something just hit me, get in the car and go to the courthouse.”
“I said, something’s wrong. And that’s when it hit. And I hollered for everybody to get to the inside wall and get down on the floor,” said Hardee.
That was when the tornado touched down.
“We started work and it was raining just as hard as we did not know because it was pitch black,” Hardee said. “We didn’t know what we’d run into. We turned the fire department into a trauma center. People come in, we evaluate them. If they needed to be shipped to the hospital, we sent them. If not, we sent to DH Conley.”
More than 40 people died in the storm, including Hardee’s brother.
“We got him loaded in the truck and died on his way to the hospital,” Hardee said. “It was a trying time.
“What we saw over the next two weeks, you would not believe the people that poured in here to help to clean up, they were friends, neighbors, strangers that you’ve never seen. It just makes your heart feel good that you had it for all the lives you lost.”
Now 40 years later, as the neighborhoods have improved over the years, so has the technology.
“We can send alerts to smartphones. At that time, none of that technology was there. So, you know, you’re relying on things like maybe the crawl across the bottom of the TV screen or weather radio,” said Ryan Ellis, Science and Operations Officer with the National Weather Service.
Emergency management departments are better prepared as well and they say you should be too.
“We have so much more information at our fingertips,” Ellis said. “As an emergency management and our 911 center, we have the ability to send down the information. And I always talk about the plan. What is your plan? Have you talked to your family to talk to your roommate or your children?”
As for what happened in 1984, it will forever live in the minds of Eastern North Carolinians.
“You’re never going to forget it. I’m 85 years old,” Ellis said. “I hope I never see it again. I’ll be real honest with you. you hear about it happening, but I never want to see anything like that again.”
Erin Jenkins
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