Tornado catches Delco residents and meteorologists off guard
COLUMBUS COUNTY, N.C. (WWAY) — We’ve had some stormy weather move through southeastern North Carolina in the last couple of days. Heavy rain and severe thunderstorms drenched parts of Brunswick County, including Leland, as strong storms pushed across the region.
Then on Saturday, radar imagery captured the moments before a tornado briefly touched down near Delco School Road.
The red on the radar indicates the heaviest rainfall as the storm tracked east-northeast.
Meteorologist/Reporter Charles McKeller explains how the tornado quickly developed seemingly out of nowhere.
A tornado touched down Saturday afternoon in Delco, leaving behind scattered damage and surprising both residents and meteorologists in Columbus County.
Reporter Charles McKeller said he was at the area where the tornado first touched down near 356 Delco School Road, where tree limbs were down on power lines, trees had fallen behind nearby fencing and debris was scattered along both sides of the roadway.
The tornado touched down around 3:23 p.m. behind Junk Gypsies, a vintage restoration shop in Delco. Co-owner Jeff Jones said he was building shelves when strong winds suddenly moved through the area.
“I’m like what in the world is going on. The trees were bending. I saw all this trash and stuff blowing real fast I didn’t know what it was. It was crazy something I never experienced,” Jones said.
Joseph Kearney captured video of the tornado as it moved toward McPherson’s ACME General Store, where propane tanks and other property were damaged.
A metal awning was destroyed; tires were thrown across the property and wooden boards were sent flying through the air. One board punched through a storage building, leaving a hole in the structure.
Jordan Baker, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the tornado developed quickly and caught him off guard.
“When you’ve got that much energy packed into a small area, winds can get fairly intense pretty quickly,” Baker said.
That’s what it did as the tornado later moved toward the 1225 block of Fertilizer Road.
Meteorologist/Reporter Charles McKeller said it ended out with a big bang as he went out to the site seeing significant roof damage, fallen trees, and limbs.
With hurricane season approaching — and tornadoes possible within tropical systems — The National Weather Service is encouraging residents to prepare ahead of time and closely monitor weather updates, watches and warnings.
Fortunately, there were no injuries or deaths reported.
