Odgen residents explain what happened when tornado touched down

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A tornado ripped through the Odgen area Thursday afternoon leaving trees down, property damaged and a lot to clean up.

Bill Bauer, who lives near Timber Creek Lane in Odgen, said he was mowing his lawn when some strong winds moved through.

“I started cutting the lawn right away and as I was cutting the lawn the trees started the wind was coming,” said Bauer. “It just got worse and worse and all of sudden they started bending so bad.”

Bauer said the winds were bending and then breaking trees and he knew it was time to seek shelter.

“I just ran for my life and ran into the garage with the lawn mower. I thought I was going to have a heart attack,” said Bauer.

Megan Martinez who lives near East Bedford Road said she also found cover.

“All of a sudden my grandma rushes in and says ‘get inside the bathroom because we need to be in the middle of the house’,” said Martinez. “I was thinking I was like what is happening what’s going on.”

The tornado also caught her neighbor Arlene Turner off guard.

“I was working out in my backyard clearing out a flower bed all of a sudden I heard wind is the best way to describe it. You can see the trees just really really just moving around,” said Turner. “The wind picked up. It was scary because it was really fierce.”

People who live in both neighborhoods were beginning to clean up the tree debris and assess damage.

New Hanover County dispatch said there were no injuries reported.