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Tornado kills at least 7 in Columbus County

Posted: November 16th, 2006 :: Castoria Fire & EMS

Courtesy from The News Reporter, Whiteville, NC

RIEGELWOOD - A tornado hit a mobile home park in Columbus County in
southeastern North Carolina Thursday morning, killing at least seven
people, authorities said.

The tornado hit the Riegelwood community in the southeastern part of
the county at about 6:30 a.m., damaging at least three homes and
causing an unknown number of injuries, said Lt. Everett Clendenin of
the state Highway Patrol. N.C. Highway 87 was blocked by debris, he
said, and authorities had blocked off other roads in the area to
assist storm victims.

Traffic was being detoured off N.C. 87 onto N.C. Highway 11 and U.S.
Highway 74/76.

Gov. Mike Easley activated the State Emergency Response Team Thursday
morning and dispatched emergency crews to assist affected counties.
He said he likely wouldn't activate the National Guard because
Highway Patrol and local authorities could secure the area.

Columbus County Emergency Management had confirmed seven fatalities
by late Thursday morning, Easley said.

County Commissioner Kipling Godwin said at least 10 people were
transported by ambulances and helicopter to area hospitals early
Thursday to be treated for injuries.

Five children and two adults were taken to New Hanover Regional
Hospital in Wilmington, spokeswoman Kendra Gerlach said. Four of the
children were listed in critical condition, and a 16-year-old and two
adults were listed in fair condition, she said.

"It's pretty well devastated," Columbus County Commissioner Sammie
Jacobs said in a telephone interview with WRAL. "I've heard about
being in a war zone, but this is something to behold."

The tornado hit a mobile home park about a mile from the Cape Fear
River and left an extensive area covered with debris. Godwin said
tractors and backhoes were being brought into the area to help remove
debris and search for survivors.

"It's going to have to be a total combing of the area to try to
account for everybody," Godwin said in a telephone interview with
WRAL, noting rescue personnel from Columbus, Brunswick and Bladen
counties were spray-painting an X on each home that had been checked.

"There are houses on top of cars and cars on top of trees," Jacobs
said. "Telephone and power poles have been shredded."

The commissioners said the unincorporated community has no sirens to
warn of severe weather.

"I'm sure it caught them off guard, and they didn't have a lot of
time to take cover," Godwin said.

Authorities have set up a temporary morgue in a nearby firehouse,
Godwin said.

"Our focus is trying to rescue and recover everyone who's still
alive," he said.

The Cape Fear Chapter of the American Red Cross and county emergency
management officials opened a shelter at Acme-Delco Elementary
School, at 16337 Old Lake Road in Riegelwood, to assist evacuated
residents. About 30 families had sought shelter at the school by mid-
morning, said Vicki Chapman, the executive director of the Red Cross
chapter.

"We're prepared to do what we need to do as long as we need to do
it," Chapman said, noting Red Cross volunteers would provide food,
clothing, shelter and health and mental health services for affected
residents.

Columbus County schools were closed Thursday, authorities said.

System Moves Across State

The tornado was part of a cold front that produced severe weather
across the Deep South on Wednesday and created a wet and windy
commute in the Triangle early Thursday.

A tornado watch remained in effect for much of eastern North Carolina
until 3 p.m. Various tornado warnings also were issued throughout the
morning.

High winds blew out a window at Dillard Middle School in Goldsboro,
injuring one child, authorities said. The student was taken to Wayne
Memorial Hospital for treatment of a lacerated arm.

WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner said wind gusts of about 60 mph
were reported in Johnston County, and a few buildings near Greensboro
were damaged by high winds.

Two house fires in Cary also were linked to lightning from the
storms, authorities said. A 67-year-old woman in a house on Annandale
Drive was taken to a hospital as a precaution after flames trapped
her in her home for a time, and a house on Mill Gate Lane sustained
minor damage, authorities said.

Heavy rains flooded several roads and caused multiple fender-benders
across the region. Authorities closed part of Walnut Street in Cary
because of flooding, and high water also slowed traffic on U.S.
Highway 64 in eastern Wake County.

A man was rescued from a car that veered off the Durham Freeway near
Cornwallis Road into a drainage ditch, authorities said. The man was
taken to Duke University Hospital as a precaution. It was unclear
whether the weather was a factor in the accident, authorities said.

A tractor-trailer jack-knifed east of Fremont in Wayne County at the
intersection of N.C. Highways 111 and 222, tying up traffic,
authorities said. The driver was trying to slow as he approached
ponding water on the highway, authorities said.

A truckload of plants spilled on Royal Avenue in Goldsboro when a
tractor-trailer overturned, authorities said. The driver swerved to
avoid a car that had pulled in front of the truck and wound up in a
ditch with the truck on its side, authorities said.

A possible tornado struck near Statesville in Iredell County,
injuring two people, one critically, The Charlotte Observer reported.
Fallen trees blocked roads in Lincoln County, the newspaper reported.

On Wednesday, the same system produced tornadoes that killed one man
in Louisiana and ripped through a church, a school and several homes
in Mississippi. High winds also destroyed a skating rink in Alabama.

Temperatures on Thursday are expected to rise into the upper 60s and
low 70s ahead of the cold front, then fall into the 50s as it passes
during the afternoon. Winds are expected to be blustery all day.

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