Tornado Strikes Greensboro, North Carolina

Greensboro had enjoyed a beautiful spring day with clear skies and temperatures in the high 70s. There was no indication of what was to come. In the early afternoon, local weather forecasters on WFMY TV predicted a front would be moving through in the late evening hours and could produce heavy thunderstorms, but none of the local forecasters predicted anything like what was to come.

By 8 p.m., conditions had worsened and TV and radio programming was being interrupted with warnings of severe weather approaching. Initially tornado watches were announced for the Virginia counties just north of the North Carolina border. But by 9 p.m. a tornado sighting was reported in Advance, North Carolina (Davidson County). Tornado warnings were being announced over the emergency broadcast system for several counties in the Piedmont area. These counties included the major cities of Winston-Salem, High Point and Greensboro. These warnings were to be in effect until 9:45 p.m.

As the 9:45 p.m. window passed, many residents of Greensboro breathed a sigh of relief as the passing storm produced heavy lightening, high winds and quarter sized hail, but for most residents, no significant damage, other than a few trees down. Calling to see if my son and his family were safe, I learned they had spent 25 minutes huddled in a small closet as high winds and hail pounded their small house.

Relieved that the storm threat had passed, I turned on the local news at 11 p.m. to see if the community had suffered any significant damage. It was at this time that we learned from chief meteorologist Lannie Pope on WXII TV that a new front and a much more powerful storm was approaching the area. Radar indicated severe thunderstorms and circling winds, which could indicate tornado activity. By 11:30 p.m., violent lightning and thunder was accompanied by heavy bombardments of quarter-sized hail. As the wind increased in intensity, tree limbs began falling, creating loud crashes on our roof. Lights blinked and then failed only to come on again a few minutes later. For the next half hour, power to our house would come and go at least a dozen different times.

It was this second (and unexpected) storm that did the most damage. In the Greensboro area, the tornado touched down on the western edge of the city in the vicinity of the Piedmont-Triad Farmer's Market, which borders interstate 40 through the city. Trees fell or were snapped like match sticks by winds estimated at 130 mph. The shelters used to display farm produce are steel beam and metal roof structures, but still suffered damage. Vendors renting space at the market lost their produce as the storm swept through the shelters.

A large-volume gas station located at an exit ramp on I-40 had the steel canopy over its gas pumps come crashing down on the pumps, as high winds tore it from its support beams.

The tornado crossed I-40 and moved in the direction of the Piedmont-Triad Airport and the surrounding industrial park. It was in the area between I-40 and the Piedmont-Triad Airport that the most damage was done.

While the airport terminal failed to have major damage, several large airplanes were blown off their moorings and were severely damaged. These included two Federal Express planes waiting to be loaded for night departures. One was blown into a fence, while another was blown completely off the tarmac and left sitting on one wing in a roadside ditch.

Perhaps the most severe damage was done to buildings in the industrial park surrounding the airport. Damage to the park was so severe, the city fire and safety personnel have quarantined an area encompassing some 25 square miles. Officials report damage to buildings in the area is so severe as to make them unsafe. In addition power lines are down and water and sewer services have been disrupted. No one, including business owners and employees, are allowed into this quarantined area until search and rescue teams and city engineering inspectors can clear the area. The quarantine will be maintained until all buildings in the area can be inspected and judged to be safe.

Greensboro has set up an emergency center at the Piedmont Farmer's Market where managers and owners of property in the business park can get information on damages and learn when re-entry will be allowed.

While no one is allowed in the area, aerial photographs have provided shocking views of the damage.

One of the larger businesses in the park is the IH Caffey Distributors. Housed in a modern brick and steel distribution center, it is one of the larger businesses in the park. Aerial photos show the building in ruins with brick walls collapsed, steel girders exposed and hanging perilously over a loading dock at which five eighteen wheel freight trucks sit entrapped in the debris of the failed building.

In the parking lot of IH Caffey and near other buildings in the park, cars and small trucks are upside down, some resting on top of other cars. Trees that once surrounded the parking lot are piled on top of the wrecked vehicles.

At the Coca-Cola distribution facility cars were upside down in the parking lot resembling toy cars kicked around by a bored child.

Nearby homes and one church were also damaged, some severely. Several homes were damaged beyond repair. Coverage on WXII TV showed severe damge in which homes were leveled to their foundations, while the home next door remained totally in tact.

Fortunately most of the buildings in the industrial park were unoccupied when the storm hit. This greatly reduced the possibility of deaths and injuries from the storm.

The Greensboro News-Record reports one death occurred during the storm. A contract delivery driver working for the U.S. Postal service was killed when his truck was blown over. It is believed the driver had stopped his truck and was asleep in the cab when the storm hit.

In Forsythe County, adjacent to Greensboro, four inches of rain within a one-hour period caused localized flooding of businesses and homes in low-lying areas.

While the damage has been severe and the loss of even one life is too much. local officials and emergency personnel agree that considering the power of this storm and the time spent on the ground, Greensboro was fortunate to not have suffered a significantly higher death toll.

With the arrival of daylight this morning, a survey of my home and yard revealed several large limbs down and some roof damage caused by the heavy hail and falling limbs, but in all, my family and I were quite fortunate.

I hope to never see another tornado.