Rocky Mount begins cleanup after tornado left trail of damage, injuries

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — The effects of Helene touched all parts of our state.

The most severe impact we saw in our area is in Rocky Mount after a tornado ripped through Friday. ABC11 crews are on the scene as cleanup is underway.

The 100-yard-wide tornado was an EF-3 with 140 mph winds and traveled for a quarter-mile, according to the National Weather Service.

An automotive repair shop and a restaurant were among 14 buildings on Tiffany Boulevard that sustained heavy damage, with some having roofs and walls torn away. Several vehicles were also damaged.

This happened in the middle of the day with people outside and out dining with friends and family.

ABC11 spoke with witness Sonny Cardinelli Friday, who was inside the Hing Ta restaurant when the tornado moved through.

Cardinelli said he got as many people as he could under the table. He could hear items and debris falling on the table and around him.

“We were sitting there, we kept getting the tornado alerts, and then some of my family members told me that there was a tornado in the area,” he said. “So, me and my granddaughter and a friend of hers … sitting at the table, and I went to get my plate and when I seen the chimes going around and everything started spinning, so I ran to them and grabbed everyone I could and we went under the table. We were lucky.”

Keisha Justice was inside her store, Pretty Essentials Women’s Boutique, in the shopping center when the tornado struck.

“The front is completely gone,” Justice said Friday of her business, which services cancer patients.

Rocky Mount Fire Chief Darvin Moore said 15 people were injured, four seriously, related to the tornado.

There was also at least one other confirmed tornado in Sampson County. It packed winds of 95 mph and traveled more than 3 miles, snapping trees and knocking down power poles on Helltown Road near Garland.

Three deaths in North Carolina are among the at least 44 confirmed storm-related deaths nationwide.

The storm, now a post-tropical cyclone, is expected to hover over the Tennessee Valley into the weekend, the National Storm Center said. Several flood and flash flood warnings remain in effect in parts of the south and central Appalachians. High wind warnings are also issued in parts of Tennessee and Ohio.

Weather Safety Tips, Resources

You can use the Flood Inundation Mapping and Alert Network to track water levels near you and which areas may be impacted by flooding.

You can report a power outage at 57801, use the Duke Energy app or their website.

You can check for road closures due to the storm.

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